Behind These Steel Bars
by Yori Hayashi
Summary: Akito puts Kyou in confinement before his time is really up! Tohru gets him out, but now they are on the run with Isuzu, Hiro, Kisa, Momiji and Kazuma. Will Akito catch them? Kyoru, ArisaxKurenoxAkito, HiroxKisa. Read and Review!
1. Prologue

**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**Couples: Kyou and Tohru, maybe some more later on…**

**Summary: Akito hates Tohru, and Tohru loves Kyou… Now, we just need to figure out how Akito can make Tohru suffer. Rated T for angst and stuff that kids wouldn't want to read… Not dirty stuff.**

**I do not own Fruits Basket, as you all know! It is just a distant dream for me… You would think people would have gotten the point by now, right?**

**-ALERT!!- There is one spoiler from book seventeen. Stop reading now if you have not read that book, and you do not want to know the spoiler. If you do know what it is, or do not care, go on ahead. –ALERT!!-**

**Prologue **

It was starting to get cold. That told everyone at the Sohma house that winter was just around the corner, and that they needed to start getting ready for the New Year's banquet that they held for the Juunishi and Akito every year. Most of the Juunishi attended.

All except for the poor cat. He would just have to spend that time with Tohru.

Akito cringed as she threw a painted stone into the air. _Tohru._ That name made her want to pull her hair out. That awful girl- who did she think she was!? Did she really think that Akito's family could accept an outsider like her? Did Tohru think that she could save the Juunishi- to help them escape Akito? No, she could not. The Juunishi belonged to Akito. Tohru had no right to interfere as she was.

Akito caught the painted stone as gravity took effect on it, causing it to fall back to Earth. It made a "pat" sound as it hit her palm. Akito started to hear other noises coming from her room. Akito listened carefully through her outside door to make sure that no unwanted intruders were in there. She heard them gossiping loudly. _The house cleaners…_ she thought.

"No… Nakamura-san, don't lie!" Giggled one of the servants. Akito rolled her eyes. _Don't they have anything better to do?_

"Trust me," Nakamura said, "I am telling the truth! That Tohru girl really said that!"

Akito shifted so that she could hear more clearly. She had to hear about Tohru. The information might be crucial- the maids know everything, after all. Putting her ear as close to the paper door as she could without it falling in, she became very alert for the news.

"She can't really feel that way- not about that awful monster!" assumed the younger one. Akito's eyes opened wide- what could they mean by that?! Did Tohru have feelings for the cat monster? Is that what Nakamura was telling her young friend? Akito's blood boiled. No- Tohru couldn't have him! If she loves him, she'll regret it all in the end- the poisonous head of the family would make sure of that.

"I heard her talking with Isuzu Sohma-san." Nakamura said, folding a sheet on Akito's futon. "She wants to break the curse, and all for the monster kid."

"She just pities him, I'm sure."

"That must be it. You're right… But you know, I think she might…"

Their voices were drowned out as they left Akito's room to move on to other work. Akito sat outside the door, unmoving, even though she knew that the maids were finished with their gossip. They probably would not want Akito to have overheard. They knew that if she did, she would have another mood swing. Everyone knew about Akito's mood swings. Even Tohru did. _Tohru Honda and Kyou Sohma… _Akito smirked slightly and tossed the stone into the air once more. Akito had just figured out what to do. She knew how to make Tohru suffer what she deserved. Akito would not make anyone drive Tohru out of that home, and she would not force anyone to erase Tohru's memory. After she was done, Tohru would beg for all that.

Akito laughed as she caught the stone once more.

**Prologue end!**

**A/N: Akito is one of my favorite characters, but she will have to be the villain in this story. Sorry for those of you who haven't read volume seventeen. You can flame me, if you want. However, there was an alert at the beginning, so you cannot really blame me. Either you did not read the notes, or… you just like annoying people. Either way, if you read something that you didn't want to read, you only have yourself to blame… Not to be rude. I still love you all! **

**I finally finished the first chapter! My other two comedy stories only have one review now… Please check them out! One is about Pocky, and in the other one, they go to camp. They are funny, so please read them! This may sound creepy, but most of my idea's come from taking my dog on a walk. I like to pretend that weird things are happening… then it turns into a story. It may be childish, but some of my best stories came out like that. Yes, I talk to myself… Hehehehehe… I am sooo demented… Hahahahahahahahaha! Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go take over the world with my army of penguins!**

**Forward MARCH!**

**Please review! Daisuki desu- I love you!**

**Sayoonara,**

**Yori Hayashi**


	2. The Doodle

**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**I do not own Furuba-san! I look up to Takaya-sensei so much, though!**

_Previously…_

"I heard her talking with Isuzu Sohma-san." Nakamura said, folding a sheet on Akito's futon. "She wants to break the curse, and all for the monster kid."

"She just pities him, I'm sure."

"That must be it. You're right… But you know, I think she might…"

Their voices were drowned out as they left Akito's room to move on to other work. Akito sat outside the door, unmoving, even though she knew that the maids were finished with their gossip. They probably would not want Akito to have overheard. They knew that if she did, she would have another mood swing. Everyone knew about Akito's mood swings. Even Tohru did. _Tohru Honda and Kyou Sohma… _Akito smirked slightly and tossed the stone into the air once more. Akito had just figured out what to do. She knew how to make Tohru suffer what she deserved. Akito would not make anyone drive Tohru out of that home, and she would not force anyone to erase Tohru's memory. After she was done, Tohru would beg for all that.

Akito laughed as she caught the stone once more.

**Chapter One**

Tohru came home from work at a very late hour. Yuki was hanging out with the "Student Defense Force", (apparently, Kimi came up with another grand idea to spend time with president Yun-Yun) and he was not able to walk Tohru home. Kyou would have, but he had to go to Kazuma's dojo on that day. Tohru opened the door softly. Shigure was sitting at the dinner table, eating food that Kyou had made. Kyou was grumbling that it wasn't for him, but he didn't make a big deal out of it. There was enough for everyone.

Kyou smiled at Tohru as she walked through the doorway, and she smiled back. She was so glad to see that everything was peaceful. However, Shigure was in the room, so…

The silence never lasted for long around him…

Kyou shoved more food into his mouth before he could get any words out. "Here, I made you some curry. How was work?"

She set her book bag down by the door and took her shoes off. While doing this, she said, "It was alright, but I am very tired. Thank you for making dinner, Kyou-kun! I really appreciate it!" She sat down beside him and gladly began to eat the delicious meal he had worked so hard to make. She was just glad that he had gotten home soon enough- before Shigure had tried to cook something for himself, that is.

After dinner, Tohru went to her room with her book bag and began on her physics homework. She so wished that Yuki were there to help her. Physics made her sleepy. Then again, tomorrow was Sunday… She could just wait and do whatever she did not understand then. She was just so worn out. Eventually, she felt helpless and just started scribbling on her scrap paper.

Kyou saw that her room was open, and so he walked in to see if anything was wrong- he just had that feeling. "Tohru, are you working on your homework?" He saw her scribbling and snickered to himself. She looked at him, then at the doodle, back at him, the doodle. Then she snatched the doodle off of the bed and quickly hid it in her book.

"Of course! What else would I be doing at this awfully late hour!? Surely, I am not the type to pour my heart into mindless doodles! I- I mean, there isn't anything wrong with doodling, but I shouldn't be doing that at this time- I mean! Augh!" She grabbed her head and fell onto her side. She felt as though she may end up offending any artist that may have overheard her.

"Tohru, It's fine. What were you drawing?" He asked, reaching for her book. She quickly grabbed it so that he wouldn't have the chance to see it. If he did, she would be mortified. It was not at all a good drawing, but that wasn't exactly the reason why…

"You can't! It belongs in the abyss!" She screeched.

She was from top to bottom serious. He couldn't believe that she was able to declare such a thing with a straight expression, and he fell onto his knees, laughing. His head was buried into her bed, and he was resisting the urge to start pounding on it with his hands. "You can't actually be serious! Toh-" He stopped laughing to regain his breath, "Tohru, you can't really be serious! How in the world did you say that with a straight face?!"

She looked slightly hurt that he would laugh at her like that, but he could not help it. She was hilarious when she tried to act serious. Her determined face just looked…

She looked so stupid! He loved how she failed in that respect.

"Is it really that funny, Kyou-kun?" She smiled. He nodded and sat beside her on her bed. Suddenly, he had the strangest urge to touch her hair. He really loved her hair. Why, he wasn't sure. Maybe it reminded his cat form of yarn. He laughed at the thought. He could not imagine himself playing with yarn. The idea made him feel stupid.

"Err… yes, actually… You just look really dumb when you try to act determined, you know?" He tried to hide a blush that he knew was developing across his cheeks.

Tohru beamed. "Either way, it really is just a doodle… It is… err… something special, but something secret, so…" She held the book up to her chest, with her arms crossing each other. "Maybe, someday, you can see… For now, I just don't know."

_But, hopefully, someday, I will have that most needed courage. You will find out without fail._

……………………

Akito stood at the doorway with no fear. For what reason should she fear such a man? Just because he was a little crazy- but, no. He would most certainly be overjoyed to hear her news.

The man opened the door and smiled a toothy smile at her. "Akito-san? To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Akito took that as invitation to enter his house. "Good news, for you. I'm here to talk to you about your 'son'."

Suddenly, the air in the room felt much more tense.

……………………

_A week later…_

Yuki sighed a huge sigh of relief as he put the important papers onto the table. The 'student defense force' had been very busy lately, and he couldn't seem to catch a break. They always seemed to be working long hours. "Well, that's finally done…" he said to his workmates.

Kakeru was busy tossing a soccer ball into the air. "Yeah… You princesses have enough decrees to sign as it is."

Yuki snorted in response. What was the point in getting mad anymore? No matter what he did, Kakeru was never going to stop bugging him about his looks. There was no point anymore. Kimi poked Kakeru in the head, saying that he needed to stop teasing her beloved Yun-Yun. Nao rolled his eyes at everyone else, and delivered the worst news that Yuki had heard all day. "I hope you idiots realize that we still have twenty more issues to go through! We don't have time to sit around!"

The president felt like crying. Kakeru growled and chopped the shorter boy in the head, saying, "Chibi-suke is devoid of cuteness!"

"Shut up!"

Yuki got home late that night. He didn't even have time to pick Tohru up from work. She was out shopping, anyways. He wouldn't be able to catch up with her. There were too many stores around. He just went straight home and crashed onto his bed. Kyou rolled his eyes at his cousin, but said nothing. Yuki was obviously not in the mood to fight. If Kyou annoyed him, he would just get beaten up worse.

Kyou's stomach growled. "Urgh…" He went down into the kitchen, where he just decided to make an Onigiri. They were plenty filling, after all. It would hold him until Tohru got home. She would feel bad if he made supper again. He patted the white rice into a triangle, and didn't bother to put any filling in it. He walked into the livingroom. He saw Tohru's physics book lying on the table. He shook his head, remembering that she had gotten in trouble for not having it that day. _What a ditz…_

He picked it up, and the doodle that she had drawn almost a week ago fell out. _She still has that in there..._ He picked it up. Without really meaning to, he saw what was on the doodle. His eyes went wide and his face turned red.

That was NOT a doodle.

**Chapter One End**

**A/N: Ooh! Cliffhanger! I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter! I did what I could… It is not much, but I do hope that everyone will continue to read it, because I am enjoying writing it! What is on that paper that Tohru needed to lie about? She was scribbling, but… It is still not a picture…**

**I'm home from school today… Normally, I would like that, but not when I am sick! Well, I'm not throwing up, but I keep getting headaches and I'm congested, and I'm having trouble breathing. I do not normally care about headaches and all that because I get it so often… Mom and dad made me stay home because of the breathing problem. Haha… I always get bronchitis around this time of the year… I will be going to the doctor later today. …Does this mean that I am more similar to Yuki? Yaaay!**

**Please review! I love you!**

**Sayoonara, **

**Yori Hayashi**


	3. Tohru's Secret

**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**When my penguin army returned from their mission to take over Furuba, they told me that it appeared to be under lock and key. Because they were too stupid to wake up the agent in charge up picking locks, I do not own Furuba. Someday, though… someday… XD**

_Previously…_

Kyou's stomach growled. "Urgh…" He went down into the kitchen, where he just decided to make an Onigiri. They were plenty filling, after all. It would hold him until Tohru got home. She would feel bad if he made supper again. He patted the white rice into a triangle, and didn't bother to put any filling in it. He walked into the livingroom. He saw Tohru's physics book lying on the table. He shook his head, remembering that she had gotten in trouble for not having it that day. _What a ditz…_

He picked it up, and the doodle that she had drawn almost a week ago fell out. _She still has that in there..._ He picked it up. Without really meaning to, he saw what was on the doodle. His eyes went wide and his face turned red.

That was NOT a doodle.

**Chapter two**

Kyou just stared at the paper for a moment. It was full of writing. In the corners, the middle, the sides… It was an ideal example of how obsessed girls could be. All over it was his name. In the middle it said _I love Kyou-kun!_ If he didn't like her back, he would have found it very disturbing. For this girl, though, he found it cute.

What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't be with her, so saying something about it was out of the question. It would only make things hard on the both of them. Should her avoid her? No… That never turns out well. He could try to act normal, but that would be the most difficult choice… especially since he was shaking like crazy. He didn't dare try to say anything. He knew that his voice would crack.

Shigure had seen everything, unknown to Kyou, and smirked. He walked into the kitchen as Tohru entered into their home. She smiled at Shigure. "Hello, Shigure-san!"

Shigure laughed to himself, and came up with something evil. "Oh, hi! Tohru-kun, Kyou-kun is in the sitting room, and he has something very significant to tell you. Why don't you hurry on in there and see what he wants."

She nodded at Shigure. Fortunately, Kyou overheard the entire conversation and was able to put the paper back into her book before she saw what he had done. She smiled at him and asked him what he wanted. He answered, "Oh… Uh… you left your book here… And, uh… Well…"

"…Yes?" She took the book from him, worried that he might have seen her not-a-doodle. "Um… Did anything… fall out of my book? I-I mean… I had an important assignment, you know… It would be bad if I lost it…" Tohru lied.

"NO!!!" He yelped, sweating. "I mean, y- Well-" He boiled. "You shouldn't leave assignments in your books, anyway! Stop interrogating me!!" He ran out of the livingroom as quickly as possible. Kyou felt bad, but now he definitely wouldn't be able to go back. He was too embarrassed. He wanted to hide in his room forever- anywhere but near her.

That week was very hard on him. Tohru kept trying to talk to him, but he still did his best to avoid being in the same place as her. She became sad, and he noticed. What was he _supposed_ to do?

At work, Tohru sighed loudly and walked out of the building. The walk home would be long. Yuki was having student council again, so she wouldn't have any company. Oh, well. She hummed to herself and did her best to enjoy the long walk. When she was nearing her house, a black car sped in her direction. She was out of its way.

The car slowed down to a standstill. The man in the front seat rolled down his window. Beside him was Akito. Akito waved at Tohru, smiling menacingly. "Kyou misses you. Better hurry home, Tohru-san."

Tohru didn't answer, but she gave Akito a confused look. _What?_ They drove off, and Tohru tried to forget what happened. She couldn't. What did Akito mean? Had she done something to Kyou? Tohru's shook in worry and began to run.

Yuki was also on his way to their house, and he saw Tohru as she was rushing forward. "Honda-san!" He called out. She turned around too quickly, and fell on her face. He rushed towards her, laughing slightly. "Honda-san, what was that all about?"

"I-I was on my way home, and… Akito-san…"

Yuki gasped. "AKITO!? What did he do to you Honda-san!?" He yelled, outraged. His worry clouded his judgment, and he began jumping to grave conclusions.

"…No… Not to me, Akito-san didn't… I don't know…" She was completely out of breath, and tried to stand up. Yuki did his best to help her. He felt bad now, because he had left her on her own to face Akito. But how was he supposed to know that the head of his family was going to see her? He tried not to blame himself, knowing that Tohru didn't feel that way.

She continued, "I think that they may have done something to Kyou-kun…"

Yuki narrowed his eyes. "Well, let's go in and make sure that he's okay."

Tohru nodded.

They walked inside. Shigure was sitting at the table with his head in his hands. He looked up at the two of them, and gave Tohru a sympathetic look. Yuki asked what was wrong, and Shigure stood up.

"I tried to stop them… But… I'm sorry, Tohru. They took Kyou away. He's going to confinement."

Tohru's heart skipped a beat.

**Chapter Two- END**

**A/N: Uh-oh… What's going to happen now!?!?! Haha… I'm sorry. This is so late. I've been busy, though (when I wasn't busy, I was just distracted…). There's no good excuse for this late update. In truth, I wanted to make this chapter longer, but it just didn't work out the way I wanted to. I'm in a hurry, anyway. We're leaving tomorrow, and we'll be gone for a week. But now, I have to let my sister on. I will re-write and fix this chapter in the future… maybe. XP Ooh… That isn't a good sign. Well, I've been doing a lot of planning. Soooo… Hehe… I'll do quicker updates when I get back. Later!!**

**Please review!!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	4. A Visitation

**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**Um… Yeah. I still don't own it, you know. Since the manga has all been drawn out, I think it may be too late for that. I may be wrong… (Goes to cry in a corner)**

_Previously…_

She continued, "I think that they may have done something to Kyou-kun…"

Yuki narrowed his eyes. "Well, let's go in and make sure that he's okay."

Tohru nodded.

They walked inside. Shigure was sitting at the table with his head in his hands. He looked up at the two of them, and gave Tohru a sympathetic look. Yuki asked what was wrong, and Shigure stood up.

"I tried to stop them… But… I'm sorry, Tohru. They took Kyou away. He's going to confinement."

Tohru's heart skipped a beat.

**Chapter three**

"W-what did you say?" Tohru whimpered. "You can't be serious…"

Yuki growled at Shigure and yelled at him, "If this is another of your stupid pranks, I'm going to kill you! That is not a funny joke, Shigure!" Yuki half believed him, since Tohru said that Akito might have done something, but he still thought that Shigure was low enough to pull a stunt like this one.

"I'm not lying, Yuki-kun." He moped. "Kyou put up a pretty good struggle, but they still took him."

Yuki hung his head, trying to fathom what was going on. He heard Tohru crying behind him. She was on the ground with her face in her hands. "Honda-san…" Yuki said. "Um… Maybe you should go get into something comfortable. We'll try to figure this out in the morning." She didn't get up, and he sighed loudly. "Honda-san, there's nothing we can do about this right now." He touched her shoulder, trying to be comforting.

She shook him off, standing quickly. She ran away, up to her room and slammed the door. She was feeling like a baby, doing that, but she just wanted to die. She loved him, and now he was gone. She knew that he was going to go after he graduated, but she was preparing to stop that. Now, she couldn't. It was such a sudden shock. She changed into her pajamas and went to sit on the roof. She didn't want anyone to bother her.

Up on the roof, she sat, holding her knees to her face. Her crying was beginning to calm, and she sniffled a couple of times. A rock hit the roof beside her, and she jumped. On the ground, she could see the form of a person. "Eh?" _That person must have thrown it. Who is it?_

"Tohru?" called a female voice through the darkness. It was curt and slightly muffled by the distance. Tohru still recognized it.

"Isuzu-san!?" Tohru finally felt like smiling. Why Isuzu would come, she didn't know. Nonetheless, she was ecstatic. She climbed down the ladder and ran to Isuzu, preparing to hug her. Isuzu also prepared. She held out one hand and held it against Tohru's brow, keeping her at a safe distance. With too much excitement, Isuzu would get sick.

"Stand back. I'm not here for one of your cheery visits." Isuzu said darkly. Tohru's hands fell to her side, and she stood up straight. Isuzu almost felt apologetic. "I saw you crying up there for a while. So… you know where Kyou was taken."

Tohru gasped as a wave of sadness washed over her again, and she wanted to be sick. "Yes… H-he… he's gone to confinement… I- I never even got to say goodbye…"

Isuzu frowned. She couldn't stand to see Tohru in this position. It made her sick. "Well, I know the room where he's being kept. I've… seen it," she half-lied. She had indeed seen it. She experienced it's dreadfulness for a handsome quantity of time.

Isuzu knew how Tohru felt about Kyou. Isuzu had Haru again, so she didn't want Tohru to suffer through lost love in the same way that she did. "Tohru, if you want… I'll take you to him. We'll have to be extremely careful, but…"

Tohru's head perked up in shock. "We can go see him, Isuzu-san…?" A tear rolled down her face.

Isuzu saw her swollen eyes even through the dimness, which only fueled her determination. She wanted to defy Akito so badly. That would show Akito that she wasn't one to try and submit. She would protect Tohru and Kyou's relationship with whatever she had. "Yes, but like I said… Don't let anyone see you. In fact, dress in black."

Tohru cocked her head. "Black?"

Isuzu rolled her eyes at Tohru's unawareness. "You're such an idiot. Black will make you harder to see at night!"

"Oh, I should have known. I apologize, Isuzu-san! I'll see what I can find!" Tohru ran into the house quickly, past Shigure and Yuki, who were sitting in the livingroom. They looked surprised to see that she had been outside. When she ran back downstairs in black shorts and her black blouse, they became suspicious.

"Honda-san…" Yuki murmured. He became louder as she was about to walk out the door. "Honda-san, why are you going out? You don't have to do grocery shopping, do you? Maybe you should just… relax tonight," he stressed. He didn't want her to go out so late at night. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh. Isuzu dropped by, and she just suggested that we go out and do something fun to lift my spirits! She really is kind!" Tohru smiled as best she could.

Now Yuki was far more suspicious. There was no way that Isuzu would come and "suggest something fun". Curiosity burned in him, but he didn't want to push his sad friend. She obviously needed something to take her mind off of the current situation. "Well… Have fun…"

Tohru noticed the disbelief in Yuki's voice, but decided to let it go. She walked swiftly out of the house and met up with Isuzu at the end of the yard.

Yuki shook his head. "They're up to something."

Shigure agreed, laughing. "This might be good for Tohru-kun, though. Oh, and now that Kyou's out of the way, maybe you could-"

A threatening glare from Yuki cut him off in the middle of his sentence.

Outside, Tohru and Isuzu walked in silence. Tohru didn't know what to say to Isuzu for her kindness, and decided to leave it at a simple thank you. She fiddled with her fingers, and then realized something that she wanted to do before seeing Kyou. It would probably be good to bring him a food that he liked. "Isuzu-san… I was wondering…. Do you think that bringing fish for Kyou would be a good idea? It may make him feel better." She hoped that Isuzu would agree to it. She really wanted to do something nice for him.

Tohru's hopes were crushed when Isuzu shook her head. "It won't help him cheer up. I'll tell you that much. When someone's life changes drastically, something like a bit of fish probably can't fix it," she reasoned. "But… I don't think it could hurt, either…" She didn't want to hurt Tohru's feelings. Maybe fish could help a little. If it came from Tohru, it probably would make him happy.

"So, sure. Let's go get him some fish."

Tohru smiled with relief. Isuzu almost smiled, but saved herself in time. She shook her head and started to walk with much faster speed. "Hurry up. We don't have all the time in the world."

_Later, at the main house…_

Kyou sat silently on the floor of his small, locked room. He looked at his tiny meal with disgust. They were trying to kill him with liver and leeks, he was sure. His stomach growled loudly, but he ignored it. Kyou could see what was going on. Akito gave him that food on purpose. _That sick jerk…_ Kyou thought angrily. He wanted to wrap his hands around Akito's neck. Akito had broken the deal.

More than that, he would never get to see Tohru again. His time with her had been cut dangerously short, and no one would give him an explanation. He wondered how she was taking it.

There was a knock on the wall from outside and Kyou jumped slightly. He hadn't expected anyone until the maid came in the morning. Through the steel bar window, he saw a female face. The maid?

He stood up and glared at her. "What do you want?"

She put her hands through the window, holding out some Cod Fish. "Kyou-kun! I brought you some fish! Are you okay!?"

"Tohru!?" His heart jumped and he rushed to the window, ignoring the fish. "Tohru, what are you doing here?! You could get caught. Do you know what Akito would do to you if he found out!?"

Tohru smiled up at him, slightly dazed that she was actually seeing him. He felt the same way. "I don't care! I had to see Kyou-kun!" She cried.

Isuzu, from behind her, snapped, "Don't be so loud!" Kyou's eyes widened. _So she helped Tohru get in…_

He smiled at Tohru. "Thanks for worrying, Tohru, but I'm fine, really… I don't want you to-"

"We're going to try and get you out, Kyou-kun!" Tohru interrupted. Kyou stared at her incredulously, then at Isuzu. Isuzu nodded in agreement. Kyou wanted to argue, but how could he stop them? He was trapped, and he didn't know what he could say that would stop them; especially not Tohru.

He tried to come up with something to stop her. "Tohru, if something happens to you, then…" He trailed off, seeing actual determination in her eyes for the first time since he had transformed into his true form. She hadn't given up then, and so he knew that she wouldn't give up now. He sighed in defeat. "Don't do anything rash, Tohru."

"No, Kyou-kun. I'm going to do whatever it takes!" She said defiantly. He laughed slightly. He couldn't help himself. She was slightly taken aback at his behavior, but couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Just promise me you won't kill anyone."

Isuzu snorted in an "as if she had enough guts" manner, crossing her arms. Tohru, however, didn't realize that Kyou was only joking, and she gasped. "N-no! I won't kill anyone. That would certainly be going beyond my limits, Kyou-kun! I wouldn't ever consider it! I don't know if you thought that of me, but I-"

Isuzu slapped a hand over Tohru's mouth. "Tohru, people will be able to hear you! Shut up!" She snapped, glaring at her threateningly. Tohru cried apologetically. Kyou reached through the bars and clutched one of Tohru's hands, pulling her out of Isuzu's clasp.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulder as well as he could and whispered a quiet "Thank you." Then he added out loud, "Tohru, is there anything I can do to talk you out of this?" He looked at her and attempted to stare her down. It didn't work, because she shook her head vigorously. He looked sad for a moment, and she took it as worry. She smiled and stepped away softly. He wanted her to come back. That was the first time he held her without transforming, even if there was a wall between them.

"I'll come back as soon as I can."

He didn't bother to rebuke. He only nodded. Isuzu grabbed her hands and pulled her away quickly. Tohru looked back and waved. Then she tripped over her own feet. _Clumsy Tohru… _Kyou thought. He could make out Isuzu with her hands on her hips, shaking her head. He could also hear the small sound of her whispering insults to Tohru. Why Tohru put up with it, he didn't know. Still, he knew Isuzu was only flustered, and that she really did care about Tohru. Otherwise, she wouldn't have helped Tohru come in.

Kyou fell to a sitting position and sighed loudly. Looking up, he wished that Tohru didn't have to go, or that he was back at home.

Home. His definition of the word was "Wherever Tohru is".

**End Chapter Three**

**A/N: Aww… A sweet ending to a sad chapter. Well, Isuzu and Tohru managed to make it this time, but they may not be so lucky next time. I already have something bad for Tohru planned out, but if you care to learn of it, you may need to consider leaving a review. I appreciate all of you who have reviewed. And thanks to those of you who have faved this story, too! Those of you who faved it, I would enjoy knowing why… It's good for writers to know why people like of dislike their stories. **

**Anyways, today I had Tai Kwon Doe. It was so great! Although, I have a carpet burn on one of my feet from doing a roundhouse kick. See, the new cushion things that we have to kick have cloth on the outside, unlike the old ones, and kicking them with the top of your foot is painful. Not to mention, I'm new to martial arts. Haha. I just began in November, and I haven't been able to go very often because of extra school work. I'm only a sad little white belt (and hardly that). I took it when I was eight, though. I was awful and couldn't handle the pain, so I quit. This time, I was expecting pain, and I resolved that I would keep at it no matter how much it hurt. It's a lot more fun, actually. It's taught me never to underestimate things. But I was eight (that's still not a sufficient excuse, right?). What can I say?**

_**I would like to thank these reviewers: **_

**Otaku Rehab**

**Ichigo (My best buddy!) **

**The Only Onigiri (You must really hate cliffhangers XD!!!)**

**Brenda924**

**Oceans Nocturne of the COCA**

_**I would also like to thank these people, who have faved the story so far:**_

**OnyxThorne**

**Oceans Nocturne of the COCA**

**Aoi-Night**

**nSpierce1999**

**Ahem… So, I will be expecting more reviews. I would like to do some review awards, if I get enough! So try to leave a really good review, whether it be funny, uplifting, ect… (This isn't a bribe. I REALLY want to do awards. Loser me.)**

**Thank you for reading, and REVIEW!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	5. A Failed Rescue?

**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**If I owned Fruits Basket, no one would read it. No one likes me, don't you see?! (cries some more)**

_Previously…_

(It's getting too hard to pick out spots to add here, so I'm going to write a summary instead.)

Tohru learns that Kyou is in confinement, and her heart is torn in two. Isuzu appears and suggests that she and Tohru sneak to the main house and see Kyou. Kyou is happy to see Tohru again, but worries when she and Isuzu say that they want to break him out. Tohru refuses to back down, and now the two girls will think over ways to get Kyou and Tohru together again.

**WARNING!! **Well, this isn't exactly that important, but it will help you understand some things. If you've read Furuba Fight, you will know that I like to add original characters into my stories, so don't be surprised when Yori-Chan (who is really a character in one of my comics) appears and knows about the curse. I need her to know about it in this story, especially. Just because of one particular scene. **THANK YOU FOR READING THIS IMPORTANT NOTE!**

**Chapter Four**

Tohru sighed and looked out the school window, to the ground three stories below her. School had been dreary for the past month. Kyou wasn't there to make it all better. There had been an uproar about his going missing, and his fan club was about to start a search team. Of course, the story with all of the Sohma's was that he had bad injuries. Uo and Hana were suspicious, because Yuki, Haru and Momiji would never tell them which hospital to go to.

"Where is Orange-top, really?" Uo interrogated towards Yuki at lunch. She, Yuki, Tohru, Momiji, Hana and Haru were all sitting outside, eating their lunches. "I can't believe that he's been in the hospital all this time, and no one can visit him. What's the real deal, Prince Charming?" She glowered at him, demanding an answer. She wouldn't give up until she got one.

The Sohma's gave her a worried look, then looked at Tohru. Yuki fidgeted with his sitting position, and thought of ways to explain what was going on. "It's really complicated."

"How so?" Hana inquired. "Just make it as uncomplicated as you can. We don't need _all _the facts…"

"Yeah, as sure as Minami's annoying we do!" Uo snapped, more towards Yuki than at Hana.

Yuki looked down. "Well, I'm sorry, but it's a private family matter. I will tell you that he isn't in the hospital, he isn't injured. Still, his condition isn't exactly good… and he might never come back to school." It wasn't easy for him to say, especially not with Tohru there. Even though she knew, it made it no easier to deal with the fact that he would always be gone. Momiji and Haru looked down to show sympathy for Tohru.

"Excuse me?" called a voice from behind them. They looked around and saw a first-year girl with jaw-length white hair. "May I speak with Tohru-senpai in private for a moment? It's sort of important." She looked away and blushed. Making requests in front of fairly unfamiliar people (AKA Hana, Haru and Uo) was not her strong suit.

"Hayashi-San!" Tohru smiled. Uo looked confused, but just shrugged it off. "I can spare a few minutes."

Yori smiled. "Thank you, Tohru-senpai." She waved at Momiji and Yuki, and smiled at Hana and Uo. "I won't keep her too long. Over here, Senpai!" She gestured for Tohru to come to a bench about forty feet away from them. Tohru followed her as well as she could- Yori always walked as though she were in a hurry. Tohru wondered how she managed to avoid running into people all the time.

When they achieved their destination and sat down, Yori cleared her throat. Immediately, Tohru knew that she would begin to beat around the bush. "Ah… Kyou has been gone for a while, now…"

Tohru had to smile. "Yori, you can just ask me."

"Oh." Yori laughed. "Sorry. You see, I was just wondering if… if his going missing has anything to do with the Sohma main house. I know that the neko-tsuki is supposed to be confined, but that isn't supposed to happen for another year. Senpai, did Akito break his promise? I know you know!" Yori leaned in and stared at Tohru in a determined way. Tohru looked away and nodded, unable to speak about it. Yori growled. "That lying…"

Yori patted Tohru on the back. "I'm sorry. That sort of thing just makes me extremely angry. I know that you're suffering more than I am. But, if there's anything at all that I can do, then I will. I want to help him."

Tohru tried her best to smile at Yori. "Yes… Isuzu-san and I… are trying to break him out, but we just don't know if we can. Isuzu has been trying to get the key for some time now, and-"

"Honda-san." Haru was strolling towards them, holding up his cell phone. "Rin wants to speak with you." He said. Curiosity rang in his voice, in spite of himself. Tohru cheerfully accepted the cell phone and held it up to her ear.

"Hello! Isuzu-san?"

Haru, who had decided his mission was complete, strolled back to his other conversation, leaving Yori to wait for Tohru to finish. "You did!?" Tohru yelled so excitedly that Yori fell off her seat in surprise. "Isuzu-san, that's wonderful! Yes… Hayashi san and I will meet you there tonight. Err… Well, she said she wanted to help…" Tohru pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at Yori with wide, eager eyes. Her expression looked quite mystified at the same time.

Yori, though she didn't know what was going on, said that she agreed to come along if it had to do with helping Kyou. Tohru smiled and went back to her phone conversation. "We'll be there, Isuzu-san!"

She hung up the phone after they finished, and quickly turned on Yori, hugging her tightly. Yori gasped, trying to wriggle free (which is her idea of making hugs a funny concept). "Senpai, what did Isuzu-san do?"

"She got the key, Hayashi-san! We're going to free him tonight!"

"Eh?!" Yori gasped. _That was sooner than I expected._ "That's great, Tohru-senpai! So what time should I meet you?"

"Isuzu-san said to be at the main house at eight. She'll be waiting for us near Kyou's room. I'll lead you there, alright?" Tohru stated. Yori agreed to it.

The rest of the day went by very slowly. Yori and Tohru were very anxious to go to the main house that night. They were even more nervous about what would happen afterwards. Would they succeed in getting him out? Would they be caught? Even if they did succeed, would Kyou still be able to live at Shigure's house? What would Akito do to them when she found out? These questions burned in the two of them, and try as they might, they were impossible to shake off.

Despite their fears, Tohru loved Kyou too much to back out, and Yori wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let Tohru down at this point. Even if they could free him without her, she knew that Tohru would want someone to go with her. Not to mention, there was no way Yori was going to let that ditz wonder the main estate alone… not where Akito was. She wouldn't meet Isuzu until she reached the confinement room, after all.

That night, Yori and Tohru both made sure to wear black, and met each other at the main entrance of the estate. They crept around to the secret entrance that Momo had showed Tohru, and snuck in as quietly as they could.

_Wow. This place really is big_. Yori thought. She had never been to the main estate before, and was amazed at everything. It was wonderful. Yori loved how traditional the houses looked. "This is so cool, Tohru senpai! I hope this won't be my last time coming here." She murmured. "I would love to see all this in the day time!"

Tohru bobbed her head up and down and grabbed Yori's hand. "It's really nice!! It's like their in their own little world or something. Although, I probably wouldn't like being so constrained…"

"I agree."

Yori was lost in her own thoughts for a moment, and then said to Tohru, "Um… excuse me, I don't mean to bring up this sort of topic, but what will happen if Akito finds out that we're freeing Kyou?"

Tohru went wide eyed at the question, realizing for the first time that they were actually in danger just by being at the main house. The question had bothered her earlier, but there was a risk of it actually happening now. "Um… I really don't know… Also, I'd rather not find out."

Yori turned away suddenly, letting go of Tohru's hand.

"Hayashi-san?" Tohru squeaked.

Yori held up one hand to silence her, and then said, "I hear someone. Shh…"

Tohru obeyed her. Yori had very good hearing. Yori did realize, however, that this could just be her fear acting, and that there may be nothing there. Still, she stayed very quiet, very still, for what seemed to be a long time. In reality, it was only about half a minute. The suspense was killing the both of them. Tohru looked away and covered her eyes; her fear took full control over her. She stood as still as a stone.

Her fears were only justified when Yori screamed, "It's Akito-san!"

**End Chapter four**

**A/N: Oh no! Yes, Akito did see them… Besides, even if she didn't, Yori's screams would have gotten her attention. Looks like they're going to get hurt, right? Uh oh. I will get the next chapter up ASAP. You'll probably all kill me for what happens, though. And, as for Yori, I was going to use someone else, but I figured that since some people already know her better than my other characters, I might as well just use her. XD And it's true. My hearing is to the point that if my sister is clicking buttons on her game boy, or whispering something in her room, I have trouble sleeping. CURSE MY EARS!! I like for things to be pitch dark and completely quiet when I sleep. Haha. Noise really gets on my nerves when I'm tired. At any other, time, though, I'm usually the one making the most noise. XP**

**I got six reviews for the last chapter!! Thank you all very much. It isn't necessarily a lot, but I really enjoyed reading them. Not to mention, they were very uplifting! Thank you!!**

**LateNightWriter (What are you writing late at night? XD)**

**LinaStar (I like usernames with the word star. It sounds so… I don't know what the word is, but I like it.)**

**Ichigo-2007 (…Since she comments on everything, I'm running out of replies. Oh, I know… Are you mad at me for not being at school today, buddy? Sorry!)**

**CapricornGurl (Are you a Capricorn? I'm a Gemini! So's my sister. Isn't that funny?)**

**Inulover411 (I loved the enthusiasm of this reviewer! That alone made me very giddy! …Giddy is a funny word.)**

**x.Diamond-Tears.x (What a pretty sounding username, don't you all thank so?)**

**Thanks again, everyone! I really hope I get more reviews for this chapter. I think I'll change the summary again. I'm so bad at summaries. Haha. So, arigoto, and REVIEW PWEASE! (Holds up Kyou dolls) Kyou likes reviews! **

**-Yori Hayashi!!**

**P.S. The next chapter should be longer. Sorry…**


	6. Hopelessness

**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own this story… If I did, then… Oh, the power… Haha! I'd melt all of your brains!**

**REVIEW, REVIEW!**

_Previously…_

Isuzu got the key to Kyou's room. Tohru invited Yori to come along and get him out, and Yori happily agreed. They made it into the main estate, but Akito may have caught them. Will they get away?

**WARNING- VIOLENCE STARTS IN THIS CHAPTER!**

**Chapter Five**

"It's Akito-san!" Yori screeched.

Tohru pulled her hands away from her face and stared in shock at the sight before her. Akito was indeed there, staring at them with cold eyes. She said nothing, but the intruders knew that if they didn't manage to escape, they could end up in the hospital.

Yori was well aware that Tohru was in far more danger than she was. One, Akito hated Tohru with even more passion than she did Yori, and two,  
Tohru wasn't as fast of a runner. Yori was unsure of what to do, and they both stayed planted in there spots, shaking from head to toe. Yori prayed with all her might, vainly hoping that Akito would give them a warning; that Isuzu would realize they couldn't come, and still continue with the rescue. She vainly hoped that someone other than a maid would come and help them. Of course, no one would.

"Why," Akito took a step towards them, "do you insist on taking my things? Why do you continue to test my patience?"

She came so close to Tohru that the girl could feel the anger pulsing in Akito. Yori wanted to stop her, but couldn't get herself to move.

Akito raised an arm. Tohru flinched, knowing that Akito would hit her. Seconds later, she heard the sound and felt the stinging sensation in her cheeks. It felt like it was bleeding.

Yori gazed at the sight incredulously. Her heart pounded in fear and anger. Akito had absolutely no right to hurt Tohru. She bared her teeth and clenched her fists.

Another loud slap came, this time causing Tohru to really bleed. Akito had slashed her with her nails. Tohru started to cry in pain, but mostly because she felt absolutely hopeless. Akito wouldn't let her get away.

Akito turned her angry gaze onto Yori, who glared back at her. Akito could sense Yori's bravado and smirked. Yori only glared at her to make Akito think that she would do something, but she was too much of a coward. Akito laughed at her. Yori cringed. Akito slapped Tohru again, and Tohru fell to the ground, grasping her cheek. "Are you going to do anything?"

Yori couldn't take it to any further extent. She sprung at Akito and kicked her in the stomach, crying in anger. Tohru yelped and covered her head as Akito flew back onto her. Akito stood up and punched the side of Yori's head. She barely felt it because her adrenaline was up, and returned a punch to Akito's head.

Yori wasn't a very good fighter, but neither was Akito. That was one similarity that they shared. They were both the type to take their anger out with violence. Yori did a better job of controlling it, but Akito had pushed her as far as she could go.

Akito knocked her to the ground. "Get out!" she yelled. "Get away from here! I'll kill you and then kill her if you don't! I'll call the guards on you, Hayashi! If you test me any further, you'll both pay!"

Tohru whimpered again. "Go, Hayashi-san! Please!"

Yori felt pathetic, knowing that leaving was the right choice, but also knowing that by doing it, she would look like a coward. Still, she knew that Akito wasn't lying when she said that she would kill both of them.

Yori stood and turned away, walking silently and heatedly. She stopped for a moment and turned her head. Akito was still standing there, and Tohru was looking after her. Yori could see the fear in her face, even though it was so dark. In worry, a tear rolled down her face and she yelled, "Keep in mind, I can get the police!"

Akito smirked. "Sure. But if they take me away, I can still be happy knowing that Tohru is dead and out of the way."

Yori understood her threats, and hung her head. She left the estate as quickly as she could, not looking back.

"A-Akito…san…" Tohru looked up at Akito, who was looking after Yori to make sure that she left. Akito looked back down at Tohru.

Akito seized her by her brown tresses and yanked her, forcing her to stand back up. Tohru screeched in pain. Akito struck her in the stomach so that blood spewed out from Tohru's lips. "Words can't even begin to describe how much you disgust me." Akito said, her expression matching her words. She looked so disgusted that Tohru couldn't bear to look at her.

She fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. She groaned in pain and Akito laughed. "Are you going to complain, after all the trouble you've caused me? You think you don't deserve this punishment?"

Tohru knew that she had to run, but her stomach was hurting so bad. Still, she tried to stand up and get away. She couldn't. Akito grabbed her foot roughly, and she fell back down. Crying, she soon realized what Akito was planning to do, and she tried to sit up. "A-kito! Please don't—"

Akito put her foot on Tohru's stomach. "Don't you dare speak to me in that way. I deserve more reverence from the likes of you." She sneered. Tohru put her head down in a mixture of shame and fear. "Now… Apologize to me, Tohru-san…"

"…For what?" Tohru whimpered. She could think of a number of things that Akito would want her to apologize for, but she knew that it would be stupid to apologize for some of them. Even if Akito killed her, she wouldn't apologize for those things. Loving Kyou, trying to save him, trying to break the curse…

"For trying so foolishly to go against me. You should know just as well as the members of the zodiac that I get what I want." Akito snapped. Tohru looked away and shook her head slowly. "What?" Akito narrowed her eyes and gripped Tohru's foot harder. "What did—did you just refuse to apologize to me?" Tohru nodded her head this time, and tried her best to avoid Akito's gaze. She was scared for her life at this point.

"I'm not going… to apologize for trying to help Kyou-kun." She muttered, barely loud enough for Akito to hear. "I want to help him. I said I will help him, despite what may happen, and I will carry that through as well as I can." Tohru knew that her voice was shaking and was barely audible. In the back of her mind, she was hoping to a great extent that Akito really hadn't heard what she had said. She wished with all of her heart that Akito would just let her go bruised and bloody as she was, and not make her hurt any worse.

Of course, this wish could never happen. She had pushed Akito as far as she could be pushed. "I'LL KILL YOU, HONDA!" Akito screeched. "Stay away from my zodiac."

It all happened to sudden for Tohru to make out. A loud snapping noise came first. It came from slightly above her, near Akito. Then her ankle fell limp. Tohru was in shock, so much that the damage she was in didn't kick in until a few seconds later. "Ah-AAAAAAA!!!" She grabbed at her ankle in a fury of pain and distress, but then fell onto her back again, writhing in pain. She could feel it take over her entire body, and she lost ability to breathe for a moment.

Akito had snapped her ankle. No compunction showed Akito's eyes. Only amusement- sick amusement.

"Stop screaming or I'll break the rest of your bones."

Tohru barely went through with the request. She humored Akito by gritting her teeth together, in hopes of not being hurt worse- or killed. Akito grabbed Tohru's arms and pulled her to a flimsy standing position. Tohru whimpered in pain, but Akito showed no mercy. "Now," Akito said, "Do you regret coming to get him? Will you leave, or will I have to—"

"I don't regret anything except… getting caught." Tohru said, even more fearful than before.

"Oh." Akito said, smiling evilly. "I understand what you're asking for."

Tohru looked up at Akito, and then lost her balance. Akito held her up forcefully and grabbed Tohru's face, making her look up. "I totally understand, now. You feel that Kyou's all alone in that place, and you want to save him because you only pity him-"

"No—"

Akito gripped her face harder. "But, he has me to go visit him. He won't get too lonely. Tohru," Akito leaned in very close to Tohru, "I have a bond with them that you don't have, and will never have. I'm not going to lose it just because you pity the monster cat. I'll show you what it truly means to be lonely- to have no one there to help. It'll just be you, and the clothes on your back."

And she began to drag Tohru to her punishment.

_Later…_

Isuzu was crouched down low, in the bushes near Kyou's room. She sighed softly but in a very agitated way. _Where are those dopes? Are they ever going to show up? We don't have that much time, and it's almost midnight! We'll have to hide after this, and most places will be closed soon…_

_What? _A crunching sound came from about ten feet away from her. She saw Akito's figure there, strolling towards Kyou's room. The leaves made it all very loud, and Akito wasn't even bothering to keep the noise down.

There was one more feature that Isuzu couldn't help but become aware of. Akito's kimono had enormous bloodstains on it.

**Chapter Five- end**

**A/N: I don't know… I felt like it was too short. There were a lot of other details that I had originally planned for this chapter, but it keeps writing itself, and it won't let me do what I wanna do. XD Ahem… But back to my usual comment on the cliffie! Oh no! What did Akito-san do to Tohru!?! Why are there so many HUMONGO-OUS (Yes… that spelling is on purpose) bloodstains!?!? What did she do to Tohru!?!? EEP!**

**If you are interested to find out, review, review, review! I'll warn you in this chapter, but soon I plan on making it to where I have to get a certain amount of reviews before the next chapter, since there are so many cliff hangers. Hehe. This chapter was so exciting to write. I just hope it was good to read. **

**Thanks, all you nice reviewing people! Awards will be in the next chapter, so please leave a good one! XD Says the conceited authoress. Seriously, I do feel conceited when saying, "Review or you won't see the next chapter!" Because it sounds like I'm really saying, "I already know that my story is TOO GOOD for you to NOT want to read, because that's just how talented I am!" Still, I shall do it to see how many I can get. **

**TEN REVIEWS, OR NO CHAPTER SIX! (Oh, how CONCEITED AM I!?!?!?!)**

**Love you all, and Ja Ne!**

**-Yori Hayashi**

_**P.S. The reason this is so late is because I've been busy drawing out the comic to this. I hope that soon I'll make it to where you all can read it. It's my first real comic with toning and everything, and so, since I know people are enjoying the fanfiction version, I hope that people will enjoy the comic. Of course, many changes have been made for that version. Not very big ones, though, because the story line is still exactly the same. I'm just making it more fun to draw out. Anyway, I hope to have it up on smackjeeves (dot) com soon, but I am having trouble with size… Soon, hopefully! Thank you for reading this message, and please comment on the thingy. XD**_


	7. A Change of Plans

1**Behind These Steel Bars**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**I dunno why I'm still saying this. Still, have an awful fear of lawyers, sooo… I do not own Fruits Basket! (BTW, I'm not really scared of lawyers.)**

**A/N: I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but, uh… It'd be nice to get some reviews telling me about it. (sigh) Seriously, I've given this speech a million times. If these people spend two or more hours writing stories for your enjoyment, the least you could do is spend two minutes leaving a review. **_**Especially**_** if the writer did something wrong. That's all the more reason to leave a review. So, even if you don't like something I'm doing, please inform me, but do it in a positive way. I won't bite your head off. I have my sister for that. XD No, I wouldn't do that, either. Ahem. Sorry for the annoying rant. XD And thank you to those of you that did review. **

**Not to sound unappreciative. If you haven't reviewed, but you've read up to here, I would also like to thank you all! **

**Late Night Writer**

**Obsequious101 (Haha. I had to copy your name down to figure out how to spell it… XD)**

**Ichigo-2007**

**CapricornGurl**

**The Only Onigiri**

**Darksownlove (it took me a moment to figure out what your name said…)**

**I will do the awards at the end of the chapter! Thank you to all the readers!**

**Chapter Six**

Isuzu got lower into the bushes so that Akito would not be able to see her. Her heart beat quickly, remembering all of the things that had happened to her last time she had gotten in trouble. She also began to fear for Tohru. Had Akito found her? That was a very large possibility at the moment. Isuzu could not think of any other reason that Akito would be here this late- covered in bloodstains. All hope drained out of her. All three of their lives could be in danger.

Akito stopped at the entrance and pulled out a spare key. She knew that the other key had been stolen, and she had an idea of who the thief was. Isuzu was the last person to try and steal from her. Still, after she was done with Kyou, there would be no need for keys. Akito snickered and unlocked the door.

Kyou raised his head and smiled, thinking that it was Tohru and Isuzu. He stood up and ran noiselessly to the door. After it unlocked, he swung it open and felt a blow to his face. Falling to the floor, he listened to a voice that was obviously not friendly. "I knew it. You _were_ expecting them, weren't you, monster? You _are_ trying to go against me."

He quickly darted out of the way of a kick, and went to the back of the room, avoiding range of Akito's limbs at all costs. His eyes scanned to the lustrous, but blood-covered blade in Akito's hand. He thought of Tohru being in jeopardy, immediately. "What did you do to Tohru, Akito!? If you've hurt her, I'll kill you!"

"Will you now?" Akito leered. "If you must know, she isn't… dead yet."

Kyou lost his temper right there. Head of the family or not, Akito was going to pay for whatever she had done. Kyou ran at her, fist raised, and swung as hard as he could. Akito quickly raised her dagger, and the blade cut against his arm. "AAAH!" He grasped his arm, and his breath was caught in his chest. He tried to stop blood from coming out. With the way he was cut, it could possibly kill him.

Isuzu heard the squall from her hiding place, and sprinted towards the confinement room in a blind fury of rage. On her way there, a garden tool caught her eye. It was a shovel. She grimaced and picked it up. _This'll give me a long-distance shot at Akito's big head. _

She resumed in her running, and a few times her stride was so long that the shovel hit her in the leg and she had to slow down out of stinging. She gritted her teeth and dealt with it. Isuzu knew she had to get there before things got even worse. There was another yell, and she ran faster, ignoring the pain in her legs.

The sight in the room made her sick. Kyou was on the ground, his arm and leg cut, and Akito was standing over him, smiling as if she had done something wonderful. Neither of them noticed Isuzu at first. She held up the shovel like a bat, gritting her teeth, and yelled, "Akito, back here." Her voice choked. She was scared. This would get her in worse trouble than her last offense if it wasn't a one-shot knock out.

The next few seconds passed by in a blur. Akito turned and was hit in the side of the head by a large metal substance, and the wind was knocked out of her. Her sight went black, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. Kyou sat there, in pain and in shock, and Isuzu just stood there in plain shock at the deed she had just committed. "I wasn't actually expecting that to work…" she said, lowering her gaze to the K-O'd head of the family. 

"In a way, this is sort of funny…" Kyou said, trying to distract himself from the pain in his arm. "This is sort of serious, but for some reason, seeing Akito knocked out on the floor looks funny, you know?"

"Whatever." She stepped over Akito and grabbed the hand of Kyou's good arm. "We have to go, right now! Tohru could be hurt, and we should get out of here before Akito wakes up and tries to hurt us again!" She pulled him up and helped him limp to the door. His leg wasn't cut as badly as his arm, and the bleeding had slightly settled. "Should we go see Hatori, or no? If we don't, then… Well, you have to be bandaged and cleaned, at the very least."

He nodded in response, and Isuzu added, "Um… Sit outside here for a moment. I'm going to do one more thing to make sure that Akito can't leave here and go after us. It will give us extra time to get out of here, even if she wakes up."

"Okay."

She helped him to sit, leaning on the wall outside the room, and she walked back in. He waited for her for a few minutes, and he guessed that she had to be very careful not to wake Akito up. However, she needed to hurry, or the plan wouldn't work. _Then again… _he thought, _the shovel's still in there, and even if Akito wakes up, he'll be too worn out to do really anything for a couple of moments. We'll be safe, anyway. _

A few moments later, Isuzu walked out the door holding a large pile of laundry. He looked at her in shock, knowing that she had stolen Akito's clothes. She looked shocked about something, too, and he said, "You stole his CLOTHES!?"

"Ah… No, I didn't." She snapped. "No, I stole… _her_ clothes." She shuddered, eyes wide open. "I thought I was stealing… _his _clothes. But… I stole… Akito is… a… f-female."

"WHAT!?" He jolted violently and stared at Isuzu in even more disbelief than before. "Akito's… female!? There's no way! I tried to punch a _girl_!?" He shook his head, trying to go over everything Akito had done and said around him since he was little. He tried to pick out little pieces of evidence that what Isuzu had said was true, but he could think of nothing. There was no way. "I'd ask you to prove it, but… that would be too weird. But… Why'd you steal his- HER- clothes!?"

"Because," she said, shaking, "if Akito wakes up naked, there's no way she'll try to leave. She'll have to wait for a maid to come get her. We'll have plenty of hours to get out of here. So…"

"Oh, I see." He said, still contemplating everything. He honestly didn't care why she did it (the _other_ detail overshadowed that one), but he thought it would make sense to ask, anyway. She took Akito's shawl and wrapped it around the injury on Kyou's leg, and then helped him stand up again.

"So what should we do with the clothes?" She asked. "We should get rid of them."

"I know what we can do." He answered, seeing a small Koi-fish pond not too far in the distance. "We can feed them to the fishes. They should be hungry right about now."

She nodded, "That's not a bad idea for someone as dumb as you are, Kyou." He growled in response. There was no time for fighting, even though, as one of his rivals, she knew just what to do to make him irritated. He did his best to ignore her, and they began their walk towards the miniature fishpond. At their arrival, she gave him the clothes so that he could have the honor of throwing them in.

Or, she just wanted to see him get freaked out from touching… _her _clothes. Whether or not that was her plan, she got to see it happen, and she almost laughed, despite herself.

xxx xxx xxx

There was an almost inaudible knock at Hatori's door, but it was noisy enough to wake him up from his shallow slumber. He grumbled and stood from his bed. He was still wearing a button up shirt and dress pants, because he had been so busy earlier that day, and was too tired to change before bed. Growling, he opened the door and gasped.

"Isuzu? Kyou!?" He looked at them very closely, scanning his eyes over Kyou's injuries. He automatically knew that Akito had hurt him. Still, he wondered why he had heard nothing from Akito by then. What he was most curious about, however, was why _Kyou _wasn't still in confinement. He almost scoffed at the idea of Akito letting him out. No, he had to have escaped.

They waltzed in without invitation, and Hatori stared after them as Isuzu helped him into another sitting position. She then turned back to Hatori and said, "He needs his wounds to be cleaned and bandaged quickly, and you'd better not call anyone. Got that?" 

The way she was ordering Hatori around made him slightly annoyed, and it only confirmed his suspicions. "You're going to answer some questions first, Isuzu. If not, it's straight to the hospital for him. And obviously, that's the last place you two want to be, for some reason. So, where's Akito?" He also had a bossy nature, and he wasn't going to let a teenage girl boss him around without a fight. "More importantly… why is he out of confinement, injured?"

Isuzu paused and stared at Kyou for a moment, and then stared back at Hatori. "Err… Akito is in Kyou's confinement room… Hatori… Did you know all along that Akito was a woman?!"

"How'd you find that out?!" Hatori roared, now in more shock than ever. If ever he had a strange night, this went above all of them.

"I stole her clothes and Kyou threw them in a fishpond." She said with an uncaring tone of voice. She then added, "…Tohru and I were going to get him from confinement, and… Akito found out. I know Tohru is here somewhere, and that Akito has hurt her. We need you to bandage Kyou so that we can look for her!"

Hatori didn't want to be involved. In fact, he would have loved for the two of them to leave so that he could go back to his bed and sleep as soundly as he had before. Still, even if they did leave, there was now too much on his mind for him to sleep now. He sighed loudly to make his annoyance known, and said, "I'll go get my first aid kit… Take him to the futon couch in the living room."

She obeyed him and helped Kyou stand back up. It wasn't very long before Kyou was fully bandaged and they were ready to leave. Isuzu forced Hatori to look her straight in the eyes once more, and she ordered him, "Don't tell anyone. If anyone finds out, Kyou could go back into confinement, and Tohru will more than likely die. Do I have your word?"

Hatori thought of Tohru, and then looked at Kyou to see his reaction. It was very sad, and he could tell that Kyou was overflowing with anxiety over what could happen to his best friend. After serious but brief contemplation, he nodded and said, "I'll agree to that. However, I will not be involved any longer, unless you come with Tohru before anyone wakes up. I'll take care of any injuries before then. Other than that, I wish the two of you luck, alright?"

"Yeah, okay." Isuzu nodded. "Kyou, can you stand on your own, now?"

He attempted it, and was successful in even walking. "Yeah, I should be fine. I don't know if I can run very well, though. Thanks, Hatori." He said, heading towards the door as fast as he could tolerate, followed be Isuzu, who was prepared to catch him if need be. His walking was sort of awkward at the moment.

"Good luck. I'm going to try to sleep again…" He murmured.

xxx xxx xxx

"Where do you think Tohru will be?" Isuzu inquired as they paced away from Hatori's residence.

"Not sure." He said, worry flooding over her again. He couldn't remember a moment that he had been so nervous. If Tohru was badly hurt, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. After all, she had gone through everything Akito did to her just to help him. Also, what would happen when Yuki and Shigure woke up to see her gone? If they came to look for her at the main house, things would only get more complicated. They would have to leave town. But… where would they go?

"Onii-chaaan??" Called a small, tired, female voice. "Onii-chan, I thought that you were… gone…"

Kyou gasped and turned around. Kisa was standing there, at the doorway of her home in her blue nightgown. Isuzu growled in annoyance. Now that Kisa had seen them, it would slow them down. Kisa would want an explanation, and if they told her about Tohru, it would cause more problems and possibly put her in danger. "Kisa, we have to go. We don't have time to-"

Kisa ran to Kyou, not hearing Isuzu. She was too distracted by seeing Kyou's bandages. "Onii-chan, are you alright!? What happened to you? Why are you injured?"

He didn't know what to tell Kisa, because he, like Isuzu, knew that if Kisa found out, she would want to help. If Kisa wanted to help, then… Well, that would cause her serious problems. "I… Um… Akito did this. Isuzu helped me, and now we're about to leave here. Just… Keep your mouth shut and don't say a word to anyone!" He snapped.

Kisa was taken aback slightly, but she also noticed something that made her suspicious that he was lying. "Onii-Chan, you're going to opposite way of the exit. You're heading to the main complex where Akito lives." She almost whispered it, scared that he would be angry with her. When he sighed in annoyance, she backed away slightly, and hung her head. "I know I'm annoying you, but… Onii-Chan, I've seen Onee-Chan come to see you a couple of times. I didn't say anything about it, but… She isn't hurt, is she?"

"…I don't know…" He decided that he might as well tell her, and he said, "We're going up to the main house to look for her right now."

Tears welled up in Kisa's eyes, and Kyou began to regret telling her. He patted her on the shoulder and tried to calm her down before anyone heard her crying. He knew that she would have an extremely hard time with knowing Tohru was hurt, too.

Suddenly, the three of them heard an annoyed shout, "Shut up! Go away!"

It sounded a lot like Hiro. Kyou groaned, and Isuzu rolled her eyes. He was the last person they needed around. Kisa would probably slow them down, but he was twice as big of a problem as she would be. They heard someone push another person, and before their eyes, a blonde boy fell to the ground in front of them. Hiro walked around the corner of the house and hissed at Momiji, "You're totally stupid, rabbit. You shouldn't talk about Kisa and I like… that…"

When he saw Kisa standing near him, he yelped. "K-kis- Kyou!? Isuzu!? Kyou, what are you doing out of-"

Kyou bounded towards him and practically attacked him to make him shut up. "Be quiet, you little runt! If anyone knows I'm out here, then I'll have to go back to confinement and Tohru will-"

"Huh, huh!?" Momiji stuck his face near Kyou's. "Tohru? Where's Tohru? Is Tohru hurt? Did Akito do something to Tohru? How are you going to help her? Where is she? Can I heeeeeelp?"

There was silence for a moment. Kyou wanted to give up explaining everything and just leave everyone behind to go find her on his own, without even Isuzu's help. After explaining it for what seemed to be the umpteenth time, he took a large breath and waited to see everyone's reaction. Momiji was obviously very upset, Kisa was still crying, and Hiro only cared about comforting her. Kyou looked over at Isuzu, who shook her head at him. "I guess there was no other choice. But… Hmm… Since they already know about everything…"

"Oh, can we help you find her?" Momiji pleaded.

Kyou was about to protest, but then Kisa started asking to help, and of course, Hiro wanted to help just so Kisa would be happy. "Well… I don't know. It wouldn't be good for anyone here if any of you got hurt. In fact, it would be dangerous for the entire Zodiac."

"We _know!_" Kisa clenched her fists. "But I want to help Onee-Chan. So please let us go with you! If we come, we can split up onto teams and get everything done twice as quickly, Onii-chan! Also, it will be safer than just the two of you!"

"Please let us help!" Momiji stressed.

"…Fine." Kyou smiled at Kisa with thankful eyes.

Isuzu said, "So who's going with whom? I don't want anyone on my team who will hold me back."

"I need to talk with you, Isuzu Onee-Chan." Hiro said. "So I'll go with you, alright?" He walked over behind her and added, "Momiji, you go with Kyou Nii-san. I don't want you on my team."

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" Momiji yelped. Hiro and Isuzu sighed, knowing what was going to come next. "B-but, Kyou will hiiiit meeee!" He whined loudly and Kyou smacked him in the head with his good arm. Then, Momiji pointed at Kyou immaturely and said in an even whinier voice, "See?!" He walked over to Isuzu defiantly and crossed his arms. His annoyed teammates knew that they couldn't get rid of him now, and they gave up in a heart beat.

Kyou shrugged his shoulders, slightly offended that no one wanted to be on his team. Kisa said, "I'll go with Onii-chan then!" She smiled at Kyou and Hiro growled. He wanted to be on her team, but then again, if she saw anything that made her think he liked Isuzu, it could cause him serious problems. He decided that being on separate teams was for the better. Besides, if Kyou was on a team with someone who annoyed him, he'd never get anything done.

"Ooo-Kay!" Momiji raised his arm into the air. "If my team finds her first, I get a hug!"

"Your team?" Isuzu knocked him in the head. "Besides, this isn't a simple game of hide-and-go-seek. This could turn into a life or death situation. If you dare mess anything up—"

Kyou interrupted her, "Everyone, just shut up and get to work!" He was fuming with anger. Kisa, who was right beside him, stood back, embarrassed (though _she _had no reason to be…). "Sorry." He added.

"He's right." Isuzu agreed.

Their younger teammates nodded, and everyone's hearts raced. They had until morning to find Tohru. If they didn't find her before then…

Akito might just finish her off before they had another chance.

**End Chapter Six**

**A/N: Well, that was a fairly long one. …I was expecting it to be really short, but it just kept going and going… Stories really do just write themselves. Anyway, Kazuma should be coming into the story pretty soon. Haha. I can't wait to write the next chapter. I paired Kyou and Kisa onto the same team because I think that they're adorable as a big brother and little sister pair. She really wants him to like her, after all. So cute! I don't know why I put Momiji in this, though. I really just wanted Hiro and Kisa. …Oh, well. Momiji should lighten the mood of the story! I also thought that the detail of Akito getting hit with a shovel was funny. **

_**Anyway, I said that I would hold awards, so here they go!**_

**1. The award for the **_**Most Expected Reviewer**_** goes to ****Ichigo-2007****! I can always count on her to leave a nice little review! She's so nice. I know that the award may not seem like much, but it means a lot that she always takes the time to review. It's something she's very deserving of. I could also give her the **_**Meanest Reviewer Award. **_**In one of them, she called me demented. XD**

**2. The award for the **_**Most Excited Review**_** goes to ****Inulover411 ****and**** CapricornGurl****! I read InuLover's review and I almost died from how excited it sounded. (Yeah, I'm pathetic.) XD I know that sounds weird, but I was like, "Woah," which is how the review started out! Haha. Thanks a lot to Inulover-san! Also, thank you, Capricorn-san! I couldn't decide between these two reviewers. They were both so excited, and I couldn't come up with another award… They just both made me tingle with excitement! Like, WOAH! Arigoto! XD**

**3. ****The Only Onigiri**** could be tied with Ichigo for her award, but she deserves her own. Lol. She gets the **_**No! Cliffie! **_**award. When I wrote the chapter about the doodle, her review really made me laugh. Yes, "grr" to the cliffies. …Cliffie is a really funny word… **

**4. The **_**Longest Review **_**award goes to ****Brenda924****. Yes, I do love long reviews! Yay! **

**5. The **_**Funny Face **_**award goes to ****Darksownlove****. It was short, but it was also made me very giddy because there was a funny face. o.O Haha. I can always be won over with a funny face. They make the reviewer seem more excited than usual, in my opinion. Err… Not that you have to have them to sound excited (Hence, one of the above awards). But, you know. XD**

**6. The **_**"This is so exciting!"**_** award goes to ****Obsequious101****! That's what she said in both of her (I have to guess on everyone's gender… Sorry if I'm wrong. …That would be awkward…) reviews, so… Haha. I'm not making fun of you, though. They made me very happy to read. I love it when people say that about my writing. And you know what? I was finally able to spell the name! I read it again and sounded it out! So HA to everyone out there that says I don't know how to spell! (Though no one has ever said that to me… Since grammar and spelling is my best subject…)**

**Well, everyone deserves a reward in my opinion, but I will continue them in the next chapter. Oh, and has anyone else ever had the problem of guessing genders? With some people, I don't have to, but I do with the majority. However, since this is a Shojo manga, I just assume that they're girls. I'm not being stereotypical, I hope. I'm just doing what I need to in order to make it by… Lol. Sorry if I made a mistake about anyone. Oh, and if you try to sound out Obsequious-san's name, it sounds **_**really **_**pretty. I'm caught up by strange things, I know. XD But once I start on someone's penname, I become obsessed. (Obsequious-san, you should be scared now.)**

**Well, thank you all for reading this chapter! (Holds out a box with kitties painted poorly on it) Please leave the rambling authoress a review??? Oh, oh! And I will also be starting a story about a dance being held at Kaibara High! I've always thought that those stories were a little cliché, but they also seem fun to write, so I will overlook that. I like reading them, anyways. Does that make any sense at all? Please read it when I put it up! Put your alerts up, pleaaase!**

**Wishing you all the best,**

**Yori Hayashi**


	8. Found In a Pitch Black Room

1_**BTSB **_

_**By Yori Hayashi**_

_**Do I own Fruits Basket? Come on, you all know the answer to that… Silly question.**_

_**Thank you, reviewers. I really appreciate all your comments. I sort of wish I could get more, though. I won't lecture about it this time. (Sigh) I just can't stand not updating, even if I don't get reviews. See? I have a serious guilt complex. Haha. **_

_**Please leave reviews after you finish reading! We will have another Furuba Character appear in this chapter. Haha. I won't tell until it happens, though… Muahahahahaha….**_

**Introducing: Chapter SEVEN!**

"W-waaaaah!" Kisa yelped, stumbling over cleaning supplies. Apparently, the maids had failed to put them away, resulting in an unfinished job. Kisa, obviously, was the victim of the maids' indolence.

"Kisa, be quiet!" Kyou snapped, moving a hand over her mouth. She hadn't been very careful throughout the entire night, and he constantly had to correct her. "You don't get it, do you? If we get caught, it'll be the end of both of us! I understand that you were startled all those times, but **please- don't- yell!**"

"I-I'm sorry, Onii-chan! It won't happen again, I promise!" She whispered in return. He didn't look particularly satisfied, but he helped her stand back up, and she apologized again for the trouble.

They had been searching the main house for what seemed like hours. Isuzu, Hiro and Momiji were searching outside; Kyou and Kisa were searching indoors, and so far, they were fortunate enough to go without being caught. One maid had awoken, but it was Momiji that she had seen, and thought nothing of it. She went back to bed, and Momiji was able to breathe again.

Their plan was to search until five in the morning, when the maids would begin to wake up. They would leave then- with or without Tohru. Kyou wasn't happy about that part of the bargain, of course, but then again, nobody on the search team was. However, they had no other choice.

The longer they searched, the more Kyou feared that they would never find Tohru. Every moment of the search amplified his agony. Not to mention, his injuries weren't exactly doing his team a lot of good in the search. In fact, if anyone was slowing it down, it was him. It didn't seem like it was going to let up any time soon.

"Onii-Chan, are you sure that we can find her before sunrise?" Kisa asked him, quietly. She half hoped that he would ignore her, or that he wouldn't hear.

Kyou stopped. In his mind, he knew that the Chances were very low, and it made his heart hurt just thinking about it.

Still, he said to her, "I don't know about you, but I refuse to leave here without her, no matter what Isuzu says." He kept his voice as calm as he possibly could, but somehow, it didn't seem to be having much effect. It was uncontrollably shaky. As was his anger at Akito. _I swear, next time I see Akito, I'll kill her! _

Then, a question struck him. Did anyone else know about Akito, besides Hatori? Obviously, Shigure had to know. Did Kisa?

"Kisa… I was wondering. Did you know that Akito really is…"

xxx

"A woman!?" Hiro exclaimed at Izuzu's proclamation. Momiji wanted to say something, but for once, he was at a loss for words. Hiro began to ramble on about a woman being the head of the family, but when he realized that he was being insulting to Isuzu, he quickly shut up.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Do I look as though I'm joking? It's not a joke. When I stole her clothes, I accidentally saw her… Oh, you know!" She snapped, blushing furiously. She threw her hands up in frustration, and Momiji began to giggle at her. To make him shut up, Hiro jabbed him in the side with his elbow.

"WAAAAAAAH! Riiii-iiiiin! Hiro's hitting me!!!!"

xxx

Kisa and Kyou were now at a dead end. Only two rooms were back there, and very out of the way compared to the others. Kyou sat down, discouraged, against one of the colorless walls, and threw his head back to gaze at the ceiling. "That's it. More locked doors. Of course, all that's back here—" He rubbed his forehead as though he were trying to get rid of a headache, and Kisa stood a fair distance away from him.

Something then rang through her ears. It was a soft cry, like a little child, and it come from behind one of the doors! She smiled excitedly and ran to put her ear up against it. Kyou lifted his head up, and his look of discouragement turned to a look of confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"I hear someone crying. Maybe it's Onee-Chan!"

Kyou stood up in a hurry, finally feeling a glimmer of hope. "Really? You think so?" He smiled and also rested his ear on the door. "It sounds like her. I wish that there was some way we could check without calling out to her…"

"What's wrong with asking if it's her, Onii-Chan?" Kisa inquired. Kyou returned her question with a look that said "Are you really that stupid?" Then it hit her, that it might not be Tohru. If it wasn't, they would be in trouble. "Sorry, I just got so confident—"

"You don't have to apologize. I got overly excited, too." He flicked her in the head and she laughed. Then, he looked around to see if there was any other way of seeing who it was. He saw a way, slightly above their heads. If Kisa stood on his shoulders, they would be able to reach it. He was in pain, but if it was the only way of finding her, he was willing to go through with it.

"Kisa, would you go into that vent and try to look into the rooms? I don't think we have many options…" He gave her a pleading look.

"Yes!" She answered. "If there's a Chance to help her, I'll do it!"

"Good." Kyou bent down and prepared for her to climb on his back. He braced himself for pain, but there was none. She was incredibly light, and now he was incredibly relieved. "Kisa, have you eaten enough in the past year?" He teased, making sure not to look up. She was still wearing her green nightgown.

"Huh?"

"Oh, never mind." He laughed and lifted her just a little more to help her into the vent. She got in with ease, and he wished her luck. "Just make as little noise as possible. Got that?"

"Yes, Onii-Chan."

She crawled off through the vents. She was gone for several minutes, and during that time, Kyou decided to rest his leg. He would pay for all his activity in the morning, he knew. His arm wasn't as bad, since he didn't have to use it as often.

When everything was over, he would make sure to do something about his cursed leg. More importantly, though, he was going to tell Tohru how he felt, as soon as things settled down. He didn't want to be one of the unlucky guys to lose his girl, half-cat or not. He wanted to hold her tight and never let go. Even if he transformed.

Unbeknownst to him, the person in the other room had been watching him the entire time. The person sneakily walked out of the room and got as close to Kyou as possible without him becoming freaked out.

"My, my." Spoke a sultry, feminine voice. "What is the Neko-tsuki doing out of his cage?"

xxx

Kisa wheezed and tried to stay silent. It was difficult, however, not to cough noisily. The smell was acrid, and she didn't know how much longer she would be able to stand it.

Finally, though, it seemed as though she had reached her destination. The cries were a bit louder than when she heard them through the door, because there wasn't as much separation, and she could barely see inside the room. It was small and dark. There was no bed, and not even a blanket. The floor was hard and wooden. In the midst of the room was the form of a petite human with hair that could reach past her shoulders. Kisa could not see her too clearly, but she was certain enough to choke out, "Onee-Chan?"

When the girl didn't answer, she called out again. This time, the girl heard her and lifted her head slightly. She was noticeably in very much pain. "Kisa… San…?"

It was definitely her.

"Ah! On-Onee-Chan!" Kisa cried of joy as she smiled down at Tohru. "Yes, it's me! Are you alright!? Can you move?"

"…I guess I've been better…" Tohru said, only half kidding. "Akito… beat me… and…" She trailed off.

"Is Kyou alright?" She asked in a whispery tone, Changing the subject. "Do you know?"

"Well, Isuzu Onee-Chan got him out, I guess, but Akito hurt his arm and leg." Noticing Tohru's happiness leave her, she said, "But, that's not the most important thing, Onee-Chan. I'm pretty sure he'll be very happy to know that you're alright. I'm going back to tell him you're here, and we'll get you out as soon as possible!" She smiled, hoping it would reach her friend though the dimness of the room.

"Y-yes… Thank you. Please hurry!"

xxx

"Who are you!?" Kyou glared at the woman.

She gave him a seductive smile. Her long, black hair was in a swirl, dropping over her right shoulder. On one side, the neckline of her dress drooped off of her shoulder slightly. "What is the hostility, for? You're Kyou Sohma, right? The cat. Whatever are you doing here? I could have sworn that Akito-San locked you up?"

His hostility only worsened as she spoke, but she wasn't about to give up. He was the cat, after all. If there was any time to prove that the bond was unnatural, it was now. Even if he was a monster, he was the perfect tool. "Goodness, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. You've been a bad boy, haven't you? Sneaking out, going against Akito like that…" she bent down alongside him and ran a finger down his wounded arm. "Did Akito-San do this to you? You poor boy."

"Don't touch me." He hissed, making as little eye contact as possible.

"What is it? Why are you being so defensive? If you come with me, I'll be sure to keep you safe." She urged him. He wasn't stupid, though. He thought he knew what she was trying to do, and he had half of it right. Still, he didn't know her intentions, or who she was. She still hadn't answered him.

What could he do, though? If he left, and made her mad, she would probably yell and attract attention. His only choice was to stall until Kisa came back. He hoped it wouldn't be long until then.

"Onii-Chan!" His prayers were answered, and he and the woman looked up to the vent. Kisa was right there. "Onee-Chan is—"

She looked at the scene below her in confusion, and hopped down to the ground. Why would _she_ be back here, and with Kyou of all people? "Ren-San?" Kisa choked out. "Y-you're Ren-San. My mother described you to me. You are… Akito's mother. Why are you back here?"

"Oh? That's my room, right down the hall, Kisa-Chan." Ren guessed her name by her appearance and what she had heard, as Kisa had done. She stood to "greet" Kisa. "Don't worry. I was merely trying to help Kyou-Kun." She lied. Looking back at Kyou, she added, "Isn't that right, Kyou-Kun? We were just talking."

Kyou looked away and narrowed his eyes, saying nothing. His cheeks were burning, and he hoped that Kisa was seeing through what Ren was saying. He would have never guessed that_ she _was somebody's mother, for goodness sake.

"He must be shy…" Ren laughed.

Kisa looked down, eyes wide and lips pursed. She became scared and ran past Ren, to Kyou. She whispered to him, "Onii-Chan, we need to hurry and get Onee-Chan out of that room. It's definitely her. I want to leave here as soon as possible. I don't trust her, Onii-Chan… She's scaring me…" She pleaded to Kyou, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt.

"I don't either. But, how will we get Tohru out?" His heart beat fast, and he knew that he was becoming overly confident again. Still, there was one question in his mind. Sure, they could crash the door down. But that would make noise, and what could they do with Ren standing right there?

"Well, her condition isn't that good, but she's up against a back wall. We might be able to knock it down. I know it's risky, but we don't really have many options…"

He threw his head back and groaned, "AUGH!" He then stood up and avoided contact with Ren at all costs.

She became angry, of course. Ren did not like being ignored, and she grabbed Kyou's arm. Ren stoked his cheek and whispered, "Are you thinking of going somewhere, Kyou-Kun? Why don't you just stay with me? You don't want me to be lonely, do you?" She was doing her best to get him to go with her, but in return, he was only giving her angry looks. He was about to push her off.

Somebody beat him to it.

In a flash, two girls with black hair hit the ground with a thud! It was Rin that had hit her, and she was stuffing her hands over Ren's mouth in a fury of anger and vengeance. Oh, how she wanted to see Ren again, just to show her how she felt about their last meeting. She attempted to stay quiet, but it was closer to a roar when she threatened, "I'll kill you, you freak! Keep your smutty hands off of him! I swear, if you wreck anything else, you'll pay for it!"

Hiro and Momiji were there, also. Unlike Isuzu, though, they didn't exactly know what was happening. Momiji just watched the "cat fight" as though it were a movie, and Hiro went to comfort Kisa, who was now crying. Ren was screaming, but it was completely muffled by Isuzu's hands. Kyou stood in a daze for a moment, but when he came back to his senses, he took the opportunity to break the door down. After all, there was already too much noise.

He ignored his excruciating pain as he rammed into the hard, wooden door. It went crashing down on the first try, and he went with it. Tohru, who had indeed been lying in the middle of the room, ignored her pain in turn, and crawled over to the panting Kyou.

Tears came to her eyes and ran down her bruised face as their eyes made contact. "Kyou-Kun… I really feel as though I haven't seen your face in years."

He reached for her hand, upset and happy. "What did Akito do to you?"

"I could ask you the same thing…" She smiled, running a hand through his hair.

Momiji ran to her first, and then Kisa. Hiro stood back, appalled at her bruises. "Onee-Chan!" Kisa wrapped her hands around Tohru's neck and cried into her shoulder. "I'm so happy to see you, Onee-Chan! Right as soon as we're safe, can I share a room with you!?"

"Yes!" Tohru laughed.

"I hate to break up you're happy fest," Hiro said, rolling his eyes, "but Isuzu Onee-Chan is in a fight with Ren-San, and we really don't have time to sit around and hug." He called out to Isuzu, "None of us can carry Tohru, Onee-Chan! We need you to come here!"

Kyou looked around at everyone. Hiro was right. None of the boys could carry her- they would transform. Kisa couldn't, because she was too small. Rin was the only candidate. "Yeah, hurry up! We have to go, right now!"

Hiro ran to Ren and replaced Isuzu's hands with his own so that she could go to Tohru. Isuzu hoisted her over her right shoulder, and Tohru yelped in pain. "…Sorry. This will be the easiest way for me to run and carry you. Can you handle it?"

"…Yes…"

It didn't take long for Ren to fight Hiro off, and she flung him to the ground roughly. Her anger at this point was at a dangerous level, as everyone else could tell. Tohru didn't completely understand, because she didn't know who Ren was, but she was aware that Ren could yell at any moment and give away their position.

They all ran as fast as they could from that spot, and behind them they could hear Ren's desperate screams, "Somebody, wake up! The cat monster escaped! Wake up! He tried to rape me! Somebody, help!"

Kyou growled under his breath, at the pain in his leg, but mostly at the lying woman that they were leaving behind. Tohru, who was bouncing on Isuzu's shoulder, looked at him and was very relieved to see that he was still as moody as ever. Of course, she knew that this was the perfect time to be temperamental. She sighed in her head and wondered if they would be able to make it out.

And if so, her main goal would be to tell him how she felt.

**Presenting: The end of chapter seven!!! Bwahahahahaha!**

_**A/N: Aren't I mean? Well, things should be getting romantic pretty soon. But, can you believe that jerk, Ren!? NYAH! I was sort of pondering whether or not I should have her yell out that he tried to rape her, but then I thought, "Why not!?" I got the idea, by the way, from the whole thing with Joseph, and the Pharaoh's wife. If you don't read the bible, the story is that the Pharaoh's wife tried to seduce Joseph, and he wouldn't go against the Pharaoh. So, she screamed that he tried to rape her. Of course, the Pharaoh believed her story over his, and locked him up. The two correlate well, neh?**_

_**Well, I'm about to fall asleep. (Yawn) Dunno if I can focus on awards tonight. (Maybe it's because I've been staring at the screen too long??? Yeah…) I'll put the rest in on their own little section, instead of at the end of the chapters. Or, should I wait until the end of the story? Wouldn't that make more sense? Well, you all that have received them already can go ahead and keep them. **_

_**One more award, though…**_

_**The **_**Lazy and Indolent Authoress Award **_**goes to… **__**YORI HAYASHI**__**!!!! WOOT!**_

_**Haha. Anyway, I hope that this was long enough for you. I had some of it typed, but then I had to do it all over again. See, I originally was typing this chapter at school, and then I didn't have a disc, so I uploaded it onto the Fanfiction documents page, hoping that I could copy and paste it when I got home. (I prefer the spelling and grammar check in MS word) And so, I tried, and it didn't work. Alas, I had to start over. Still, I like this version better… All's well in Yori Land. **_

_**Please review and be safe! Love you all!**_

_**-Yori Hayashi**_


	9. The Search

BTSB

_**BTSB**_

_**By Yori Hayashi**_

_**Should I bother to say that I don't own the manga?**_

_**A/N I've typed a lot in the past few days. The rest of my family is at a basketball game. I had a bad experience with basketball when I was younger, and I haven't liked it ever since. I can have fun at Football games, even though I have no idea what in the world is going on, but with basketball… Nyeh… Although, I do enjoy shooting hoops when no one else is around. Haha. Enough about me. Onto the next chapter! (I'm so excited to be writing this!) By the way, it's almost midnight, so the beginning might seem a teensy bit sloppy. (Hopefully only a teensy bit…)**_

**Chapter Eight**

Isuzu, Hiro, Kisa, Kyou and Momiji were all on the run, and Isuzu was carrying the terribly injured Tohru. They were quite a sight. After Ren's bellowing, some of the maids had indeed woken up, and they were on a search for the group. None of them were safe because Ren had pointed all of them out. They really were on the run this time. They couldn't go home, and it would be even worse when they found out where Akito was.

One of the male servants almost caught Kisa, but a kick from Kyou's good leg sent him flying onto his back. Kyou grabbed Kisa's hand and pulled on her to make her run faster. Hiro became jealous, and grabbed her other hand. Kyou rolled his eyes and let go.

After a few minutes, they finally reached the secret entrance. Kisa went through first, followed by Hiro and Momiji. They all worked to help Tohru get through, and Isuzu followed her. Kyou exited last. Isuzu lifted Tohru once more, and they began to run again until they had even escaped from outside the Sohma's main estate. They ran until they reached their destination. Everything had already been planned, except that their "protector" knew nothing of it.

Kazuma Sohma was sitting down at the kitchen table, eating the food that he had ordered an hour before. He hadn't been able to go to sleep because of his hunger, and when he realized that there were all-night delivery services, it, of course, made him very happy.

When he heard a knock at his door, it startled him. He didn't usually stay up so late, but it was even stranger to have visitors at such a late hour. Nevertheless, he gladly went to answer the door.

"Hello?" He looked around his front yard, and was shocked to see Kyou standing there, in the center of all the chaos with a hurt arm and leg. He was surrounded by two sleepy young children, and two worn out teenage girls. Momiji had already rushed in the front door, and was taking his shoes off. Kazuma would have laughed, if not for the shock he was in. "Kyou, what—" He began to study Tohru more closely, and he exclaimed, "What happened to Tohru-San!? She looks as though she's been through a shredder! And what are you doing out of—"

"It's a long story, Shishou!" Kyou put his hand up to stop his master. "Please, can we come inside, first? Some of the people at the main house are looking for us. We're in really big trouble. We're sorry to drag you into this, but…"

Kazuma listened closely to Kyou's shaking voice. He was genuinely scared. Kazuma nodded and cleared the way for Kyou, Kisa and Hiro to walk in the front door. Hiro and Kisa removed their shoes. Kyou's feet were bare, so he just walked ahead.

Kazuma offered to carry Tohru in, and Isuzu willingly handed her over. "Be careful, though. She's been through hell and back. Akito beat her, as you can clearly see."

Kazuma narrowed his eyes and picked Tohru up, bridal style. "I see. Well, she'll be safe now. Let's just go inside so that I can get a straight clarification of what is going on."

Isuzu nodded and led the way. For once, she made sure to take her shoes off before entering his house, and he thanked her for it, causing her to blush and walk faster. Tohru had already fallen asleep, and Kazuma chuckled at how tired she was. _She's had a long night… _When they reached the sitting room, he lied her down in one of the chairs beside Kisa, and announced that he would be back with some Futon mattresses. "Just wait here. If someone comes to the door, don't answer it." He added, turning off the hallway light so that outsiders would think that they were asleep.

Kisa patted Tohru on the head. "Poor Onee-Chan. I hope she'll be okay… Akito really is rough… isn't he—I mean… she…?"

"Too much so." Kyou looked at Tohru sympathetically. He wished that he could hold her without transforming. It would be nice if she could just fall asleep in his arms. Alas, if he tried that, she'd be using his cat form as a pillow. That thought made him burst out laughing, and Isuzu and Hiro, who were sitting on the floor, looked at him as though he had just come back from an insane asylum. "Sorry… Things that aren't normally funny start to become funny past midnight…"

Isuzu shook her head. "Whatever."

Kazuma returned with four mats for them to sleep on. "Now, who's going to sleep, and who's going to give me an explanation?" He asked, looking at his sleepy victims.

"Well," Kyou started, "I'm not sure that Tohru will be able to explain it, in this state, so I guess that Isuzu and I will give you the explanations.

"Fine." Kazuma nodded. "Lets go to the kitchen, then. Hiro, Kisa, and Momiji… You all can go ahead and catch up on sleep. You might need it, depending on what they tell me. We might have to leave tomorrow. I'll call your parents soon, Hiro and Kisa."

They nodded. Kisa, Hiro and Momiji lifted the sleeping Tohru and took her over to one of the futons, and set her down. Kisa crawled in beside her, and Momiji and Hiro shared one. "That will leave the other two for Isuzu and Kyou, since they're the biggest." Hiro said. _Still, why do I have to sleep with that stupid rabbit!? …Oh, well… as long as we're all okay… And Kisa doesn't seem too unhappy…_

Kisa gave a tiny yawn. "…Oyasumi nasai, Onee-Chan…"

Tohru opened one eye sleepily. "Ee… Oyasumi nasai, Kisa-San…" (Yes, goodnight, Kisa-San)

Kyou gave one last look at Tohru's sleeping form before he headed to the kitchen, and he smiled.

xxx

"I see…" Kazuma looked down at his tea cup. He had drunken all of the tea that Kyou had made, and was now going over all the details in his head. "Honestly, Kyou… I wanted to apologize. I wanted to protect you from going there, but I—"

"You didn't know." Kyou cut him off. "There's no reason to apologize, Shishou. I know that, had you known, you would have tried to protect me. I'm appreciative of that, in itself. So… Everything's fine."

Kazuma smiled and looked back up at his adopted son. "Yes. Thank you for saying so. I just feel bad, though. Tohru-San got hurt so badly. There was no reason for Akito to do such a thing to her. Her reasons were quite justified. Still, I think that Tohru-San must have known what she was getting herself into when she went there. She had someone else with her, didn't you say?"

Isuzu bobbed her head to say yes. "A girl named Yori Hayashi. One of her school friends, I guess. Akito probably threatened her."

"Do you know of any serious injuries that Tohru-San might have?" He inquired with a tone of worry ringing through his voice. "It would be a serious problem, since we'll really have to leave town for this."

Kyou and Isuzu looked at each other, also wondering that same question. Tohru hadn't complained of anything serious. Then again, it wasn't like she had the time to complain. They had busted her out, and she crawled to Kyou. Was it possible that she had hurt her leg? If she couldn't walk, that was likely the case. "We don't know." They answered.

"But, since she was crawling, her leg might be injured." Isuzu added. "She hasn't taken a step."

Kazuma shook his head and sighed. "Akito really needs to control his temper. It scares me to think about what she might have done to Tohru-San. I don't understand why she would lock her up, but… I think she's being "overly protective" of her Zodiac. Obviously, though, the bond is a sham. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. It would really make everyone, including Akito, a lot happier if she would give up."

Kyou and Isuzu nodded, in turn. They heard a small whimper coming from the entrance way of the kitchen, and then they saw Kisa there, wiping her eye. She had obviously been crying.

"Kisa," Shishou spoke in his kindest voice, "what's wrong? Are you scared?"

She nodded, and sat down beside Kyou at the Komatsu mat. Isuzu, who was on the other side by Kazuma, looked at Kisa with wondering eyes. They were incredibly soft, though, for someone as angry as she was. Kyou put a hand on the top of her head, and waited for her to say something else.

"Are we really going to leave? Will we ever come back?" She asked as a drop ran down her face. Her three elders couldn't help but want to console her, even Isuzu. It would be incredibly hard on Kisa, they all knew. But, all they could do was give her a few encouraging words and rub her back as she cried.

"You all will be gone for a while, at least until this all blows over…" Kazuma soothed. "You may have to go to new schools for a while, but I promise that you all will be able to come back, okay, Kisa?"

Kyou patted her on the backside, and she leaned onto his shoulder. "See, everything will be fine," He said.

"Maybe…" She whispered.

"I'll go put her back to bed." Isuzu said. She took Kisa's hand and escorted her out of the kitchen.

"It really is a frightening thing," stated Kazuma, to break the silence, "being on the run like this. Still, it's nice to see you again, out of confinement. Hopefully, we can keep it that way… It's going to be hard, though."

"Where can we go?" Kyou asked.

Kazuma thought it over for a moment, and then the answer became obvious. "We'll do what we did last time. I will take you all up to the mountains."

"The mountains? Will we be able to go to school like that?"

Kazuma answered, "Yes. I won't take you to the same mountains as last time, because that would be too obvious. Instead, I will take you all to land that is not owned by the Sohma's. I rented it on my own, just in case something happened."

Kyou laughed and stood up to get more tea out of the kettle on the stove. "Well, that's what I call thinking ahead. I guess that when you live in a family like the Sohma's, it helps to have a place to run away to," he poured the tea and fell silent. He was beginning to realize how tired he really was. Yawning, he started towards the mat again, but Kazuma stood and held his hand up to stop him. "You need your sleep, Kyou. We'll finish the tea in the morning. We'll also patch up your wounds again. Go to bed."

"…You're acting like a mother, Shishou."

Kazuma chuckled, and pushed Kyou lightly out of the kitchen. "I'm going to call everyone, alright? I'll make them promise not to say anything, though."

"No, wait. Don't tell them where we're going, all right? And- do not call Shigure's house. I don't trust that guy. He'll tell them everything in a heartbeat." Kyou growled. It was true. Shigure was not to be trusted in this situation. As much as he hated Yuki, though, he wanted him to know so that he wouldn't worry about Tohru. Still, if they called that house, there was a Chance that Shigure would pick up, and not Yuki. It was too dangerous.

"Don't worry. I wasn't going to call Shigure-Kun. He's nice, but he's still too close to Akito."

"Psh." Kyou muttered. "Nice my butt."

xxx

"Keep searching!" Yelled the head maid of the Sohma house. "They have to be here, somewhere! The gate hasn't been opened, and they couldn't have climbed over with that girl! We have to find Akito-San, more importantly!"

Evidently, she had no recollection of the secret entrance.

"Ma'am, should we go check out the cat's confinement room? Maybe Akito is there." Suggested a younger maid with brown hair in a tight bun. She wasn't very good at making suggestions, and she had to prepare for criticism, but none came.

"She's right." Agreed the head maid. The girl let out her breath that was trapped in her chest, and the head maid added, "I will go to the cat's room, and the rest of you keep on with your search. No, wait." She turned to the younger maid. "You, come with me." She walked ahead, and the nervous girl followed her as quickly as she could.

At the cat's room, the door was left open. "Yes, they've definitely got out. And look," The elder woman pointed a rigid finger to the ground. "There's blood. Akito must have come and stabbed the monster. Well, let's go in."

"Y-yes."

Inside, there was a very shocking scene. They had expected to see Akito there, moping angrily in a corner, holding a gleaming knife at her side. It was quite the contradictory. She was instead lying, weaponless, in the middle of the floor.

That wasn't what worried them, however… it was that she was naked. "Goodness, gracious! That monster cat has gone crazy!"

"Akito is a GIRL!?" Shouted the younger maid. The older maid slapped her hand over the girl's mouth and hissed at her to say,"SHUT UP!" The girl obeyed her elder, and became very silent as she watched her master shake Akito awake.

Akito opened one eye lazily. She looked around the room and at the maid above her head. Then she moaned, "I see horses' carrying shovels everywhere… Somebody make the room stop…"

The maid gasped at her, and the younger maid rushed to her attention. Kneeling beside Akito, she said, "Akito, are you really a female?! Did the cat… did he… You know you're naked, right?"

"I'm…" Akito looked down in order to clarify what had been said, and she screeched in embarrassment. "That… Isuzu! She stole my clothes and knocked me out! That little—that little tramp! Find her and lock her up again! I cannot believe her! How dare she disgrace me, the head of the family!" Akito made sure that she was full covered with her arms, and then the younger maid took off her kimono's belt and gave it to Akito to wear as well as she could.

"Akito-san, after Kyou hurt you, he attacked your mother." The girl said, blushing.

"…Attack…? He didn't attack me…" Akito hung her head. "If that's what that lady said, then it's probably a lie, you fool."

"Yes, really!" Snapped the elder maid, who had also fallen for it. She whacked girl on the head. "How could you fall for such a thing!?"

The girl was about to say something in return, but did not, for fear of being slapped again. Instead, she just looked away from the people who were narrowing their eyes at her, and mumbled under her breath, "I'm sorry for being as stupid as you are, ma'am…" Luckily for her, the older maid did not hear her.

xxx

"Mmm…" Tohru awoke to a very nice smell coming from the kitchen. She rubbed her head sleepily, and looked around at the familiar scenes of Kazuma's house. Then she remembered all of the things that had happened the night before. Her ankle was broken, and she was badly bruised. She wanted to sit up, but she was too scared to try.

"You're awake, Tohru-San?" Spoke Kazuma, who was sitting on the chair near her. "Isuzu and Kyou are in the kitchen, cooking. Would you like to get up now?"

"Ah… Yes, I would… But I'm not sure if I can…"

"Well, I'll carry you to a chair. I need you to tell me what Akito did to you, alright? Are you up to it?" He stood from his chair and leaned over the sleepy girl. She nodded, and he lifted her from the futon. He sat her down in a chair, and sat back down in his spot. He was wearing his usual attire, but his hair was looking very rough compared to how it usually did. "You look like you're in a lot of pain, Tohru-san. You'll need to take a shower soon. Isuzu could probably help you with that. Or Kisa."

Tohru nodded. "Yes… Ah… Akito found me and… Snapped my ankle. Other than that, though… I think it's only cuts and bruises… I should be okay, once my ankle heals…"

"Still, that's a serious problem. You won't be able to walk for a long time." He put a finger to his chin and stared at her closely. "Are you sure that's all that Akito did to you? There's nothing else that you have to tell me?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of… I fell unconscious after a while of being in the room. I think that I'll be okay, really. There's no reason to worry about me. I thank you for it, though, Shishou-san." She smiled as well as she could, but he was still not satisfied. Akito must have said something to Tohru. After all, Akito was very abusive in a physical sense, but it was Akito's words that made the members of the Juusanshi quake in fear at her presence. With a little bit of thinking, it wasn't hard to see that there was more to the story. Still, Kazuma decided to drop the subject. He didn't want to make Tohru nervous. She would say something at some point, if she felt the need.

"Well then, Tohru-san. I'll go see if they're finished with breakfast. Or, before that, would you like to get cleaned up?" He asked, standing from his seat to leave the room. As soon as he said that, though, Kyou came into the room and announced that they were done cooking their food.

He woke Kisa, Hiro and Momiji, and they all flooded to the kitchen for their food. Kazuma followed them. "I'll be back with your food in a minute." Kyou told Tohru. "You need to stay in that chair for now." He searched around for a foot stool and put it under Tohru's bad leg. She thanked him, and he left to get her food.

When he returned, he was carrying a tray with two bowls of soup and some fish. He set Tohru's food down on a little side table, and he used the tray to eat on the floor.

"Tohru…" Kyou ignored his food for a moment and looked at her very seriously. "I'm happy that we got you out of there, and that, in a nutshell, you're okay… But, there's something that I need to talk to you about."

"Oh, and thank you for helping me!" Tohru smiled at him and set her food to the side, also. "Please, go on!"

"Uh…" He scratched the back of his head nervously and his entire face heated up. Tohru almost giggled at him. "Tohru, you know the night you came home, and I had your book? I began avoiding you, that week before I was confined. I'm sorry for that. But, the reason was that…" He suddenly stopped talking and began rubbing his forehead. "Ah, I don't think I can tell you this."

"Oh, go ahe-" Tohru came to realization of why he was probably so scared. _Did he see the…? _

"I accidentally read your… "doodle". The one that said… you loved me." He looked away, and Tohru's face also began to heat up.

For just a few moments, the two of them sat in silence with red ears.

**xxx**

**A/N: Oh la la! What's going to happen with our favorite couple now, huh?! Will this blossom into a loving relationship or go totally wrong?! **

**If you want to find out, you'd better review!**

**But, I wuvs you all!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	10. Can't get a word

BTSB

**BTSB**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Fruits Basket. Fruits Basket, of course, belongs to the wonderful Natsuki Takaya- sensei!**

**A/N: I appreciate all of the support, you guys. Pick up with the reviews, though, please! Haha. I hope that now, since I'm getting into the romance, there'll be more. I mean, who doesn't like romance. (sigh's dreamily, remembering the old days when she thought romance was gross.) Anyway, please enjoy. Wow, this story is going to get pretty high in chapters. O.O**

**Chapter nine**

"I saw the "doodle"… that said you loved me…" Kyou said.

Tohru put her fingers in front of her face and moaned sadly. It was too late to cover up the blush- her whole body was turning blood-red with embarrassment; but, she couldn't let him see her cry over this. She began to heat up so much that her body shook. It couldn't get much worse.

Kyou was beginning to regret bringing it up. She looked so scared- of him, no less. He couldn't stand seeing her frightened of him.

He stood and moved towards her. He took her hands away from her face and wiped a tear on her cheek. Unknown to the two of them, a certain blonde- haired boy was watching them jealously from behind the wall.

"Tohru, I know you're nervous," Kyou put his face so close to hers that the feel of his breath on her face made shivers go down her spine. "I know, but we need to talk about this. Sooner or later, you know I'm going to get you to talk."

"…Kyou-Kun-"

"DISHEEEEES! I need the disheeees!" Momiji jumped into the room and ran into Kyou with enough force to knock him away from Tohru. Then he stuck his tongue out playfully and sprinted back out of the room… without any dishes. It didn't take much thinking to figure out that he just did it to break the two of them up.

"Runt!" Kyou yelled loudly.

Tohru looked away again. "Kyou-kun, I'm so sorry for doing that. I know… It' must be so bothersome for someone like me to want to be with someone like you. I just beg you not to be angry with me. I'm so sorry!"

"Tohru, no!" Kyou stared at her incredulously. What had he said to make her think he didn't like her back?!

"Hey." Isuzu cut in, overhearing the bad direction the conversation was taking. Tohru desperately wanted out of that room, she could tell. "Tohru needs to have a bath now. We can't let her wounds get infected, now can we?" She picked Tohru up with a grunt and carried her away quickly, ignoring Kyou's "just a minute" pleas. He sounded like a kid that wanted extra time to sleep.

"Well, that was rough." Isuzu told Tohru. "I suppose it could have gone worse, though."

"Yes." Tohru said. Nervously, Tohru changed the subject. "Ah, I'm sorry that you have to carry me like this. It must be very tiring for you.

Isuzu growled in her head. She was extremely curious about her and Kyou, and was slightly annoyed at Tohru for changing the subject like that. But, she respected Tohru enough to let it be. "I don't really care. You're way to skinny, anyway."

"Oh." Tohru giggled.

Seconds later, they were in the bathroom. Tohru stripped into her undergarments as Isuzu had ordered and Isuzu filled a bucket with water and dipped a washcloth into it. "We'll get the soap later," she said.

She started to rub Tohru's back with the cloth, and Tohru shivered. "Well, the water's warm, Isuzu-san, but when you move the cloth, it gets so cold. Like, when you get out of a swimming pool!"

"I know."

Tohru and Isuzu then fell silent. Isuzu was only curious about the subject of Tohru's "romance." Tohru didn't want to talk about the subject of her "romance." Therefore, in the room, until there was talk about the subject of Tohru's "romance", all was silent.

Tohru piped nervously, "I'm scared to see Kyou-kun again, Isuzu-san… I mean, can I face him after what happened just now?"

"Well, why couldn't you? Isuzu suggested. "You've embarrassed yourself a few times before, right?"

"No. Not like this, anyway." She felt ashamed and hung her head. "I don't know what to do anymore, Isuzu-san. I love Kyou-kun so much, but I know he can't be with me. I'm so happy that I can see him again, but can I face him now!? This is absolutely awful."

"…Mm." Isuzu nodded.

The bathroom entrance opened slightly, and Isuzu stood with a start. "Hey, don't come in here! Knock, you idiot! There's a naked girl in here." She snapped, thinking that the intruder was a male. However, it was only Kisa, and Isuzu sat back down, glaring at the little girl all the while.

"I-I'm sorry." Kisa mumbled. "I brought Onee-chan some crutches. Kazuma-Ojiichan had them…"

"Thank you very much, Kisa-san!" Tohru smiled kindly in order to make Kisa feel more comfortable. Kisa blushed.

"Ah… Yes. Well, I'll go now so that you two can finish talking." She bowed nervously and made for the exit. Isuzu watched her leave, following her every move with a wary gaze.

"She's such a sweetheart." Tohru said. Isuzu nodded nonchalantly and moved down to the next dreaded cleaning spot. Tohru's ankle.

"Prepare for your doom, Tohru." She only half joked. Tohru took her completely seriously and did her best to tense her entire body. However, that made the rest of her injuries painful, and she had to release some of her muscles. It would do no good if she couldn't tense her foot, anyway.

The pain shot though her entire body like a bullet right as soon as Isuzu touched her ankle with the cloth. It felt almost as bad as when Akito first snapped it. She arched her back and clenched her teeth. She didn't care anymore if the rest of her injuries hurt. This was far worse than the lot of them. She did her best not to screech, and Isuzu almost laughed at her.

Then, as soon as she finished, Kazuma's voice rang through the bathroom, still muffled by the door. "We have to leave this place soon! It is beginning to rain, you two! You know how Kyou gets."

"Yes sir!" Tohru said.

"Wonderful. Now we're going to have to deal with Mr. Issue." Isuzu went to the window and opened the curtain just enough to see outside. "It really is about to rain…" She looked at Tohru and raised an eyebrow. Tohru jokingly returned the expression. "You're hair is a little oily. You can't go out looking like that. You know what? Maybe no one will be able to tell as long as your hair is wet."

"Eh? But, my hair is completely dry!"

Isuzu lifted the bucket, and with a completely serious expression, she poured all the water over Tohru's head. "Not anymore, it isn't."

xxx

Kyou had the job of wrapping Tohru's leg to hold it in place when she used Kazuma's old, but sturdy, crutches. He would have continued the conversation that they had earlier, but everyone else was in the room.

He wanted to be alone with her. Why couldn't he even have five stupid minutes with her? It probably wouldn't do much good at the moment, anyway. After all, the rain had him in a foul mood. It wasn't a good time for him to confess his feelings for her. He might end up making her sad again.

She blushed as he touched her ankle, and Momiji watched the two of them carefully, ready to butt in at any moment. Despite himself, he was beginning to get upset. He wanted Tohru to be his, not Kyou's. Still, he knew Tohru didn't want him back.

"All done." Kyou patted Tohru's knee to throw an "it's okay" sign at her, which she didn't catch. He sighed. "Here are your crutches, Tohru."

Kunimitsu, Kazuma's child-like assistant and student, came into the kitchen and gasped at everyone. "Kyou! I haven't seen you for a month or more! What are you-"

Kazuma raised his hand to stop Kunimitsu's words. "We are all leaving, Kunimitsu. I need you to watch the dojo, and don't tell anyone about this. It's a secret that could lead to life or death. Even for you." Kazuma gave Kunimitsu an unusually cold stare, and Kunimitsu almost fell backwards in fear.

"U-uh…"

"I cannot risk giving you anymore information than that. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Y-yes!"

Kyou pushed past Kunimitsu, annoyed. "Let's go already!"

"Yes, let's go everyone." Kazuma held out his hand for everyone to exit the house before himself. Then he looked back at Kunimitsu with a friendly expression. "I hope you have a nice day!"

"…Scary man…" Kunimitsu said, waving at him.

xxx

They took a train to the mountains. It was a very relaxing trip for everyone, and the service was very nice. Tohru distracted herself from the handsome, orange-haired boy asleep in the seat beside her by staring at the scenery. However, it couldn't distract her for long. As soon as she turned back around, she was immediately entranced by his face- no, it was his lips. She desperately wanted to kiss him. It was true that she hadn't wanted to sit by him, but this was making it so much harder on her. Why did Hiro have to be so protective of Kisa? It wouldn't have been so hard for her to share a seat with her.

"We're almost there." Kazuma reached across the gray isle and tapped Kyou on the shoulder. "Wake up, Kyou."

"…Nyahh. Shut up, dad." Kyou said. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and he sat stick straight. "Shishou- I meant to say Shishou!"

Kazuma ruffled his son's hair and smirked. "I'd prefer that you call me dad."

Kyou blushed. They all boarded off the train, and started the long walk towards Kazuma's cabin. Tohru had to stop twice on the way to rest, but when they reached their destination, it was all completely worth it.

The cabin was very large, and the wood was dark. It was surrounded by trees and beside it was a sparkling blue lake. It was truly a sight to behold, and Tohru was taking in every moment of it.

"How romantic!" Tohru smiled dreamily, thinking about Kyou. She just didn't realize how embarrassing she looked. Isuzu rolled her eyes at Tohru, realizing what was on her friend's mind.

Momiji grabbed Kyou and pulled him away from everyone else. He whispered to him in a serious voice, "I need to talk to you alone. About Tohru."

**End**

**A/N: Nyahaha. What will Momiji say to Kyou? Why's he acting so serious? Will he ever get his pep back!? Haha. I promise, Momiji won't be like this for too long. But he needs his serious moments, too. I think the next chapter will be shorter, since it just revolves around the triangle with him, Tohru, and Kyou.**

**Please review!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	11. One Less

BTSB

**BTSB**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Fruits Basket. JUST RUB IT IN, WHYDONCHA!?**

**A/N: I am enjoying this fanfiction so much. I enjoy writing serious stories, for a change. However, I will keep doing comedy, too. Just thought I'd say that. Haha. Thank you so much for supporting me, everyone. Your reviews never get old. I enjoy every bit of it. …Just don't leave a flame. (goes to mope in corner)**

**Chapter Ten**

'_I need to speak with you alone… About Tohru.'_

Kyou sighed and flopped back onto his new bed. He was so used to a futon. He had to share a room with Momiji- a fact that made him all the less uncomfortable. It was just another thing to add to his list of why he was stressed. Besides, what could Momiji possibly want with Tohru? Maybe he wanted Tohru. Maybe he had overheard the conversation Kyou had with Tohru. Or worse… Had Kyou been completely obvious from the beginning?! Did everyone know he loved Tohru?!

Kyou wanted to barf.

He closed his eyes again. Outside, it was still sprinkling rain all over the quiet land. It was peaceful, but he hated how tired it made him. Curse his curse. CURSE IT!

He fell asleep. Then he started to dream. He couldn't pick out any particular plot to it. It was only Tohru, the one he adored, smiling at him. She looked completely innocent in her lacy, white dress. Everything was white; such an innocent picture.

_The wind blew softly through her brown tresses, and she smiled, embarrassed, and blushed as she usually did. _

He couldn't get over her. She was absolutely the picture of innocence.

_She reached out to hold someone's hand, and he hoped it was for him. She looked so friendly and inviting. She reached out farther and grabbed someone's pale hand._

_Akito came into the picture. She wore a long black dress. It was quite the contrary to Tohru's innocent look. Akito smirked at Tohru. _

Possibly, Tohru's innocence was only shown because of her ignorance.

_Tohru's dress lost its innocence, also. Blood red was its new color. She turned completely pale, as though it was her own blood changing the color of the dress. Tohru looked cautiously down at herself, and then at Akito. She looked so frightened._

Kyou wanted to reach out and hold her, to comfort her. Every time he reached out, though, he touched nothing.

_Suddenly, Tohru became completely frail. She closed her eyes and fell to her knees, and then all the way down. Akito stood beside her for a moment with a fake-apologetic expression and then looked back up, smirking and snickering. _

"_It's your entire fault, Kyou! You're the one who killed Tohru-chan!"_

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Kyou woke up with a start and put one hand to his face while the other clutched his pillow. He was sweating. He let go of his pillow and put his hand on his chest to feel his own heart race. _It was only a dream. Tohru isn't dead. I didn't kill her. It was a dream. _

_She's alive, right?_

"Did you finish dreaming about her, Kyou? You killed Tohru in your dream?"

Momiji was standing over him, watching him closely with an unusually stern expression.

"I-I… Uh, I just hand a nightmare, is all." He put his hands down and moved to sit on the edge of his bed. "Trust me, it was nothing that you need to worry about. I… I didn't even touch Tohru. Not even in the dream."

_It was only a dream._ _I think._

"Nothing? Really?" Momiji smiled, but his eyes were still ice cold. His eyes were ice cold, but he was quietly steaming at Kyou.

"Um…" Kyou avoided Momiji's eyes at all costs. They almost scared him, and that was the last thing he needed after what just happened. "You said you needed to tell me something about Tohru, right? Hurry up and say it so I can get back to sleep." He suggested the dreaded subject.

"Yeah." Momiji responded. "All I needed to say is that I love Tohru, like you do. If you want her, you'd better hurry up and claim her before I do." Momiji narrowed his eyes, and Kyou gasped. "I'm not going to let go as long as I know I have a chance."

Kyou gritted his teeth at Momiji. He was furious. "You're completely stupid! How can you talk about her like that!?"

"Like what?" Momiji remained calm.

"You're talking as though she's some sort of prize to be won! She isn't some sort of trophy to rub in someone else's face when you when it! She's a human being!" Kyou yelled. He was absolutely seething. At this point, he would have been happy with any method of medieval torture to be done to Momiji.

Momiji was shaking in anger, but he controlled in much better than Kyou did. He stepped away and turned his back, preparing to leave the room. "I agree." He said. "I agree. She isn't. I'm not going to compete with you, Kyou. I just wanted to give you a fair warning before I tell Tohru how I feel about her. You're welcome to come to your senses and tell her at any time you like."

"Shut up." Kyou mumbled.

xxx

Tohru was going to share her room with Kisa and Isuzu, who were both extremely busy with housework. Tohru couldn't have been more bored. She had to stay in bed until Kazuma could take her to the hospital. She felt so lonely and pathetic.

Someone knocked on the door, and Tohru said, "Come in!"

Momiji walked in.

"Hello, Momiji-kun!" Tohru was so happy to have his chipper company. Or, so she hoped he would be. He seemed to be down. She wondered if it would be wrong to talk to Momiji about Kyou. Or maybe he had something he needed to talk about. She figured that it would be best for him to start the conversation. He must have visited her for a reason.

"I… need to talk with you Tohru. It's really important to me, so…" He felt awkward and was shaking from head to toe. His conversation with Kyou had not ended well, and now he was testing himself with Tohru. However, he wasn't sure that Kyou would ever speak to Tohru about his own feelings. Momiji had gotten him into a very stubborn mood.

That didn't hurt Momiji's situation, though.

He closed the door behind him very softly, as though his visiting her was a life or death secret. She wasn't used to seeing him with such a serious expression, and it almost scared her, as it did Kyou. His eyes lacked their usual shine. But unlike when he was talking to Kyou, this time it was from fear.

He smiled nervously at Tohru. "I know that this is extremely sudden, but… Tohru… I really like you…"

"Huh?" Tohru blushed. She knew very well what Momiji meant, but she still answered stupidly, "Yes, and I consider you a great friend, too! I really like you too, Momiji-kun!"

He shook his head and grabbed Tohru's hands. "That isn't what I meant…"

_Momiji-kun… _Tohru pleaded in her mind. _Please don't! I was throwing a hint at you- please don't make me say it!_

She wanted to let him down subtly. She wished he had caught that.

"Tohru," he spoke softly, "I love you so much, and I want you to be mine. Tohru-chan, please…"

"M-Momiji-kun… I-I don…" Tohru began to cry, and Momiji wiped the tear from her face. He knew what was coming next. "Momi…. I'm sorry but I can't. I can't…"

Momiji let go of her.

"You're such a kind friend, Momiji-kun… I want you to have all the happiness you can have, but-" she looked up at him with shining eyes. "You understand, don't you? I'm so sorry, but I can't return your feelings. I would rather you be happy with someone else…"

"Don't be sorry, Tohru-chan…" Momiji sat down on the bed beside Tohru and patted her cheek. "I really want you to be happy, too. I don't want you to pretend that you love me. If you don't, it's okay. There's no rush for me to be in love with someone at this very moment. I'm glad we talked about this. And even if we don't have a romantic relationship, Tohru, I still love you so much."

Tohru smiled at him. She wanted to laugh, but tears came out instead.

He paused for a moment, just looking at her crying. "It's Kyou, isn't it?"

Tohru stopped crying. She stopped breathing for a moment, and she was just staring blankly ahead, with her fists clenched on her lap. More tears ran down her face.

"So much I can't stand it, Momiji-kun…"

Momiji nodded and wrapped his arm around Tohru's shoulders. He kept just enough distance between the two of them to keep himself from transforming. "I know exactly how you feel." He said sadly. "But, I'm happy for you, that you can feel that way about someone that returns your feelings."

"Ah?" Tohru stared at him incredulously.

Momiji lifted her chin very slightly. "Just… good luck with Kyou," he said, and he lightly kissed her on the cheek.

She blushed furiously as he stood and walked away.

He opened the door, saying nothing more.

Then, Momiji watched as he saw Kyou scurry away from the door as quickly as his injured leg would carry him.

_That's one less threat._

**End Chapter Ten**

**A/N Awww… poor Momiji-kun. After this, though, he'll be his chipper self. I had to write something with him and Tohru. I don't really support them as a couple. I do think that they're adorable as far as one-sided romance is concerned, though. I meant for there to be Kyouru in this chapter, but it seemed to revolve only around Momiji and Tohru. I just couldn't resist letting them have that adorable moment. :D**

**I think my writing is growing a bit, too… What do you all think? Please leave a comment.**

**Love you all!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	12. Death To Bells

BTSB

**BTSB**

**By Yori Hayashi**

…**I still don't own Fruits Basket. (Sigh)**

**A/N: Nyaah, I'd appreciate it if I could get more feedback, everyone. Thanks, though, to those of you who have given it to me. ARIGOTO! I love all my readers, even if they don't give feedback. (Pats everyone on the shoulders) Thanks for sticking with me throughout the fanfiction, anyway. It's been fun. …This sounds like a goodbye note, doesn't it? Haha. No, we have a while to go before that. Anyway, some Kyouru will return in this chapter, but I will also have Kureno and Arisa meet up again. Everybody say: "AWWWWW! UWAAAH!" like the crazy Otaku's I know you are!**

**Chapter Eleven**

Tohru carefully tied the bow to her new school uniform and sighed. It was pure white, knee length, and had a blue bow tie for the girls. She decided to go along with the color scheme and wear a dark blue bow in her hair that Isuzu had bought for her. It was sort of cute, but she really missed her old uniform. No, she missed everything about her old school. But, there was no reason as to why she shouldn't enjoy the new school. She would make the best of it.

"Wow. You look pretty, Onee-chan!" Kisa complimented her. "And you know what? Christmas is in just a few days! I just can't wait!"

_Christmas… I haven't bought any gifts… I probably should. _Tohru thought. "Yes, I'm excited, too. But isn't it a little strange that we're starting at this school the day before we get out for winter break?" Tohru laughed and grabbed her crutches. Kazuma had taken her to the hospital two days after they had gotten settled into the cabin, and Tohru had been on strict bed rest. At least now she could finally get out of the house as long as she took it easy. It couldn't get much better for her.

Hiro was very happy, too. He was finally able to go to the same school as Kisa, and there was nothing that the main house could do about it! That morning, he got dressed quicker than usual. Isuzu and Kyou rolled their eyes at him.

Kyou was almost fully healed, except for a few scars. He could finally train with Kazuma, and wasn't always in such a bad mood, as a result.

Tohru, Kyou and Momiji's new high school was huge, and the three of them caught their breaths as they took their first steps into the gate. Kyou brushed his hand against Tohru's, which was holding her crutch, and she apologized. He shook his head at her. _I'm the one that touched your hand, stupid._ Momiji smiled to himself and walked away to give them privacy.

"Well," Kyou helped Tohru sit down on a bench, "we still have twenty minutes before our torture begins at Fujiwarai High School." He said nervously in an attempt to break the ice that had been between them for more than a week. "What should we do while we wait?"

"Kiss me," is what Tohru wanted to say.

She stayed silent.

He sighed.

"Tohru, we need to settle this, okay? I can't stand not being able to talk to you… Besides… Momiji already spilled the beans about me, right?"

Tohru gasped at looked at him carefully, studying his expression as well as she possibly could. _Momiji really meant that? He was right? But… How did Kyou know about that? Did Momiji tell him, or something?_

"K-Kyou-kun, you… Like me?"

Kyou ignored everyone else in the school yard. All the other students that were studying their new classmates carefully. They seemed to be so interested in the new boy with the orange hair, and the average girl that he was all over. He didn't care. He grabbed Tohru's chin, and leaned in closely.

"Kyou-ku-"

DING-DONG! The loud school bell chimed, telling them that they only had five minutes to get to class. Tohru jumped at it, scared, and then came to her senses.

"Ky- Ah, um… W-we really should go inside… We have to search for our classes, after all." Tohru scurried to grab her crutches and her bag, and Kyou sat in his spot, lips pursed in annoyance. Tohru looked back down at him after she had finished gathering everything, and she said, "Are you coming?"

"…Nn."

He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Let's go." He said.

_That's it. Whenever I meet the person who set that clock to ring, I'll kill him. _

**xxx**

Arisa slammed her notebook shut, as loudly as she could to show that she was extra-annoyed. "WHERE IS TOHRU!?" She screamed in Yuki's ear. "She's been gone since forever, and I want my stinking answers!"

"First Kyou-Kun, and now our poor Tohru-kun…" Hana mumbled to herself.

Yuki sunk into his chair, scared, and pretended to be entranced in his book. He was desperately worried for Tohru, also, but he knew nothing more of their situation than Hana or Uo did. All he knew about was what happened at the main house. Wait, could he throw a hint?

"Uh…" He put his book down for a moment and thought of what he could say to Uo. "Uh… I don't know any more than you do… But, someone… else, higher in the family might…" He shot her suspicious glances.

She threw back a cocked eyebrow, understanding his messages. Then she said aloud, while getting ready to leave the classroom, "I think I'm getting _sick_, you guys. Maybe I should head out and get myself a _diagnosis_."

"Oh, and if it's something out of your control, it might be good to _kill _your _"doctor"_." Hana also hinted. Uo winked at her and Yuki, and sped out of the room, leaving all of her classmates to make up their own suspicions.

"Maybe she's pregnant." One girl said.

Yuki and Hana picked up their books simultaneously and sunk back into their seats.

_Technically_, none of them had said anything untrue.

**xxx**

Akito pushed angrily through all of the startled housemaids. "You're all so slow!" She snapped. "Hurry up and find those monsters, or I'll kill every one of you along with them! It's been two weeks, for heaven's sake!"

"A-Akito-san! Please, we really are trying!" Said a young and timid maid.

"Yeah?" Akito smiled. Then, her smile dissipated. "Try harder!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Kureno followed Akito into her room, and he shut the door behind him. "Akito. This stress really isn't good for you… Just leave it all up to the maids and myself. Alright?"

Akito didn't respond. She sat on her futon with her knees to her chest. She appeared to be quite content with being stressed, Kureno thought. It almost seemed as though she was confirming his thoughts when she turned her head back at him and said, "I want you to leave me alone for a while, Kureno. I think I'll snap at any moment."

_Too late. _Kureno thought to himself. He nodded, though, and left Akito to mope alone. _I'm not sure how long I'll be let go of, but I guess it couldn't hurt to explore outside for a while… _

Kureno did his best to avoid the sight of all the maids while he slipped out of the main house. It didn't take much work, because they were all so distracted, and he was soon free. However, his foot got caught on a rock, and he fell to the ground. "Oof!"

"Maybe I should pay more attention to where I walk…"

Then, a scream caught his attention. "Let go of me, you ugly ape! Tell me where you guys took Tohru and Kyon!"

"Ma'am, we won't tell you again; you need to leave!" Yelled a security guard.

Uo, the intruder, kicked the guard in his shins and pulled out her famous metal pipe. "I won't say this again, either! Tell me where my friends are!" She whacked his partner in the head. "Yeah, isn't so fun to watch your friends suffer, is it?!" Uo snapped.

"Please stop!"

Kureno stared at the intruder incredulously. He recognized her, but he didn't want to believe it. All of his "trivial memories" were coming back and were hitting him like lightning. He wanted to run away, but his legs wouldn't let him. They only forced him to move towards her. Somehow, he wanted to help her.

"Arisa!"

"Huh?" She stopped yelling at the sound of her name being called.

_Kureno… san. _She gaped at him. She dropped her pipe and slowly stepped towards him. The guards watched the two of them with curiosity. One of them realized what was happening between the two of them, and ran off to find Akito.

"Kureno-san, you're out here…" Uo couldn't find the right words to say. She never thought that she would really run into him here. Sure, he lived there, but she also knew that he didn't venture out much. She gritted her teeth together, and looked away from him as he grabbed for her hand. "What do you want? I'm busy, schmo."

He laughed. "You haven't changed, have you, Arisa?"

**End Chapter Eleven**

**A/N: GASP! What will Kureno do when he learns that Arisa is pregnant? A soap opera unfolds! Lol. I'm only joking. But, I really wanted the two of them to meet up.**

**As for Kyou and Tohru, there will be more on them later. (Soon, actually. Hahaha…) Don't you all hate me for interrupting their moment? Just trust me, though. It will get very sweet between the two of them soon. Ahem. "Christmas, Christmas time is here, time for toys and time for cheer…" Uh… It's either Toys or Joys. O.O Nyaaa. **

**Oh, and one more thing before I close this segment up! Our Calico cat, Kyoko-chan, is very pregnant. She's an outside cat, but we've let her inside so that she'll be safe. She's probably going to have her babies soon! I can't wait! Sadly, though, the cat that we believe is the father (Hatsuharu, a black and white cat) died a month or so ago. He was probably the sweetest, most nonchalant cat ever. He and Kyoko were such good friends. But, we can only hope that the babies are as kind and sweet as their parents are. I'll tell you, Kyoko is the most beautiful cat I have ever seen!! We all love her. And she's been so well behaved. We sort of adopted her when she came to our house wanting food last year, and even though she was nervous around us at first (my fault) she's grown to be a part of the family. She's even litter box trained, we just discovered! Well, wish her luck with motherhood, please! Mom says she could go at any moment. (squee!)**

**Love you all,**

**Yori Hayashi**


	13. Emotional Reunion

BTSB

**BTSB**

**Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Fruits Basket**

**A/N: (sigh) Um… Really, if you all want me to continue with this, then read and review. I would hate to write a story and not know what people think, thank you. Romance will be starting very soon. For the record, I got one review for the last chapter, but forty one people read it. Is it so much to ask to know what you all thought? I really hate to be like this, but please review, people. **

**(After I started writing this one, I managed to get more reviews for the last chapter. Ironic, huh?)**

**Chapter Twelve**

"Kureno-san?" Arisa smiled at him, her eyes clouded with excitement to see him. She looked ever so happy to see him. She took a step towards him, and held out her hands. "Kureno-san, it has been so long! How have you been?" She asked in a kind voice.

Kureno was immediately suspicious. If there was anything he knew about Arisa, it was that she wasn't a total sweetie-pie.

No, she was more than likely going to kill him.

"Arisa, can we talk this over before you kill me? Really, I had my reasons for not showing up before, so…" He held up his hands and backed away, expecting her to go on a rampage. She didn't however. She just kept smiling at him. Now he was more scared than ever. Something was really wrong. She couldn't be that happy to see him, could she? It wasn't in her nature.

She smirked. "I missed you, Kureno-san…"

He missed her, too. She was so dear to him, and he loved her so much. However, he didn't picture meeting her like this, and he could honestly say that he had never been so scared in his entire life. "Arisa, can we please talk about this? Please?" He begged her to think rationally, for his sake.

"Talk?" Arisa laughed and fanned herself with her hand. "TALK!?"

She clutched his hand tightly and he gasped, frightened. "Oh, don't worry. We are definitely going to "talk". Kureno-san, we are _leaving!_" She began to drag him away.

Kyou didn't matter at the moment. Tohru would matter in due time. How many chances, however, would she be able to antagonize Kureno? Arisa knew that she had to take the chances as they came along. This chance might not come again. She was so, so happy that she had chosen to go to the main house. Now, she even had a prisoner. Yes. She got to meet up with her beloved Kureno, and she got a prisoner all at the same time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.

"Arisa! Where are you taking me?!" Kureno asked through gasps. She was walking quickly through the busy crowds, and though she was holding his hand, it was hard for him to keep up. He couldn't dodge through the crowds nearly as well as she could. He ran into many people- mainly large men- and had to apologize so many times… if he didn't want a black eye.

She held his hand too tight, as though she were holding on for dear life. It was probably revenge for all the times she had lost him. She was breaking his hand in turn for all of the emotional torment she had been thrown into.

He felt bad, but his hand almost felt worse. "Arisa, stop!" He ordered, after they had broken themselves from the crowd.

She stopped walking immediately, and her grip on his hand loosened slightly. Kureno sighed mentally and put his free hand on her shoulder. "Arisa, you can let go. I won't run away this time."

She looked back at him, and he could see that she was crying. She had been crying, obviously, the entire time, and had been afraid to speak for fear of her voice shaking. Through all of the crowds, she cried, but the only one who didn't know was him.

He felt like dirt.

Kureno's hand didn't matter anymore. Akito would matter later.

How many chances would he have to make reconciliation?

"I can't let go. Whether or not you want to, Kureno-san, you'll be leaving again, right?" Arisa said through gritted teeth. "Because there's someone that you have to go back to?! Well, I don't care anymore. I just w-wanted…" she trailed off, feeling pathetic. She couldn't believe that she was crying like this, in front of him. But, she had done it before. She could do it again.

He just looked at her, trying to figure out what to say. There were so many things that he wanted to tell her, but none of them seemed good enough. So instead, he grabbed her other hand and pulled her as close to him as he possibly could. She returned the hold, and it was even tighter than Akito held him the day Kureno's curse broke. She gripped the black jacket that covered his back, and pressed her face into his newly tear-stained shirt.

"Arisa," He whispered.

She said nothing, but looked up at him with teary eyes.

He paused for a moment, before pressing his lips firmly onto hers. It was a hold for dear life, and neither of them was willing to let go. Kureno wouldn't willingly leave her that time.

Little did the two of them know that a young maid was watching the two of them with excitement, ready to cause a stir at the main house.

--

Akito's stomach did a flip. She could feel some sort of disturbance, though she could not quite detect what it was. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. She felt as though a part of her was tearing away, and she would never see it again.

As a tear ran down her face, the door to her room opened, and the head maid strutted in. "Akito-san, we have some information for you… I'm sure you will be very happy to hear it." She grinned toothily, and ignored the fact that Akito was now crying. She figured that it was just Akito's usual problems. If Akito wasn't screaming at her, she wasn't going to worry about it.

"Bring her in!" The maid said, looking at the doorway.

Two male servants walked in, holding the arms of Hiro's mother, Satsuki Sohma. She was absolutely terrified, and was crying.

"Satsuki-san," said Akito's maid, "kindly tell Akito-san what you told us…"

"I-I can't-"

"Do it!" She ordered, slapping Hiro's poor mother in the face. Akito raised an eyebrow, but ordered no objections to her maid's cruelty. "Satsuki-san, we're going to tell Akito-san, anyways. You might as well spill your information."

Satsuki only wept, however, and the maid rolled her eyes. "Well, then. I will tell you. After many forceful measures, we have finally figured out where the cat monster and all of his friends are."

Akito perked up in her seat and stared at the maid with wide, excited eyes. "Where!?"

The maid smirked and looked back at Satsuki, who shook her head vigorously. "Please, don't tell him!"

"The mountains, Akito-san."

"Eh…" Akito thought it over for a slight moment, and then grinned evilly. She would have revenge on all of the traitors in due time. It was all coming together.

"In that case, everyone… Why don't we pay them a visit as our Christmas surprise?" Akito suggested, thinking of all the things that she would do once she saw them. If Tohru thought her pain was agonizing before, she would never survive through Akito's next attack. Akito would definitely make sure of it. "Well, when we see them again, everyone, make sure you get Tohru. It'll be fun to make Kyou watch her be tortured, won't it?"

--

Tohru held one crutch between her elbow and waist and reached onto the store shelf. Christmas shopping was something that she greatly enjoyed. This time, Isuzu came along with her to help carry bags. Tohru was ecstatic that she decided to come, but it didn't take long for Isuzu to bring up a very dreaded topic.

"So, Kyou's in your class? How'd it go?" Isuzu asked in an uninterested voice. Still, her face was flushing red, and Tohru could tell that she was actually very interested in the topic.

Isuzu would have made a good actor, she thought.

In Tohru's mind though, the whole thing was very embarrassing and confusing. If Kyou really did like her back, she would have thought that someone like him would have been more determined in telling her, especially after all that had happened. She blushed. _So he really does get nervous easily, too. _She smiled to herself at the thought of him being so anxious about something like that. Isuzu watched the blushing girl with even more curiosity, and was beginning to get the idea that something had indeed happened.

"Did he say something?" Isuzu demanded again, this time showing the wonder in her voice.

"Uh… Sort of… He didn't say it directly-" Tohru started.

"Coward." Isuzu mumbled.

"Eh?"

"Forget it." Isuzu snapped. "Go on."

Tohru blushed at her curtness, but continued without a condescending word, as she always did. "Ah, well… It looked like he was about to kiss me, before school started." She avoided Isuzu's gaze. Tohru knew what Isuzu's expression would be, anyway. "S-so… Uh… The bell rang, though, and scared me. So, we… didn't kiss… I ran away, practically…"

She waited for Isuzu to reprimand her, but nothing came. There was an awkward silence between the two of them, as Isuzu thought over what Tohru had told her.

"Did any guys say anything to you today?" Isuzu asked in an unusually sly voice. Tohru nodded, and Isuzu became slightly disappointed. But she wasn't done asking questions. "So… Hmm. Did you all talk on the way back to the cabin?"

Tohru set down a stuffed animal that she had been looking at carefully (she was looking for a present for Kisa) and sighed sadly. "Ah… no. I was too nervous to talk. A few times, he tried to say something, but I… I just acted as though I was distracted by the scenery. So, nothing happened." When Isuzu huffed in annoyance, she added, "I'm sorry to disappoint you…"

"No, no." Isuzu growled, trying to be patient. "Take your time. I had problems with Haru, too, you know… So, just don't worry about it. It'll happen if it's meant to."

"…Yes." Tohru smiled.

Tohru became relieved when Isuzu finally dropped the subject, and she began to look around the store for more gifts. The money was coming out of Kazuma's pocket, so she was going to try to be cheap. A stuffed tiger and a bunny would do well for Kisa and Momiji. She was confused for Hiro's, though. "Should I get Hiro another one of those… bracelet things?" Tohru couldn't find the right word.

"You mean a sweatband?" Isuzu cocked an eyebrow, holding up a package with a green sweatband in it.

"Yes!" Tohru smiled, and Isuzu put the sweatband in there shopping basket.

"What are you going to get for Kyou and Kazuma?" Isuzu wondered.

"Nn…" Tohru scanned the isles for something that would fit them. "Uh… I'm not sure about those two… I could just buy Kyou some fish, I guess… No, that isn't suitable enough. I make him fish too often for it to make any difference. …What _should_ I get him?"

Isuzu crossed her arms and thought about it deeply. "You know, you could buy him another jacket or something. He might like that…"

"That's a great idea!" Tohru grinned. "Should we buy it here, or should we go to a clothing store?"

Isuzu threw her head back and groaned. "All these stupid questions are making my head hurt! Why don't you just look for something that he would like, and buy it for him! Sheesh, just kiss him or something! He'd like that!" Isuzu burst out, holding her hand out widely for emphasis.

Tohru stared at her incredulously. "Ah… Um… Y-you know…" She paused, and then finished, "You know, that isn't such a bad idea! Uh…"

But she hung her head, realizing that she actually couldn't. There's no way that she had enough guts to do something so forward. Isuzu read her expression and patted her on the shoulder. To hide her sympathy, though, she sighed loudly and shook her head at her nervous friend. "Fine then. I'll help you pick out a jacket. Go on to the clothes section. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

"Yes…" Tohru nodded sadly.

As Tohru ambled out of the isle, Isuzu rushed around, looking for something very specific. She knew what she wanted to get for Tohru, but since she was shopping with her, she would have to hurry. "Where is it...? Ah!" She walked over to the jewelry cases. "Excuse me," she said to the clerk, pointing into the case, "I'd like to buy that necklace. Could you wrap it for me?"

The woman sighed and stood from her seat, setting down the magazine that she had been reading. "Yeah, sure." She reached into the case and pulled out Tohru's present. "Are you Christmas shopping?"

"…Yeah…" Isuzu nodded, looking away.

The woman wrapped the gift carefully and Isuzu waited nervously. She didn't want anyone- especially Tohru- to see her buying a gift like that. She was paying for her own gifts, and this was the only one she was buying. How embarrassing.

Maybe she would give it to Tohru anonymously. Then Tohru wouldn't go through the whole "UWAAAH!" stage.

However she would give it to Tohru, she couldn't help but be slightly happy with herself. After all that Tohru had gone through, and after all Tohru had done for her, she was finally doing something in return for her friend.

_Friend. _The thought made her stomach lurch.

She smiled at the thought.

**End Chapter Twelve**

**A/N: Awww, Isuzu has a buddy-san! Heehee. Anyways, I hope that you all will leave nice reviews! I think that Isuzu and Tohru are such cute friends, don't you? Haha. That's just me, though. I'm so sappy, aren't I? But as friends, they are one of my favorite combos. Let me see… as combos (not pairings), my favorites are Yuki and Tohru, Yuki and Kakeru, Isuzu and Tohru, Kyou and Kisa, and… Yuki and Haru. **

**At this point it may seem as though Yuki is my favorite character… He isn't… Kyou is. As little kid characters, though, Yuki was my favorite. (sqeal) His cuteness made my stomach do flips. But, Kyou will always be my favorite. I don't know who comes in second. Maybe… Akito or Tohru? I really, really like Akito, for some reason. As an aspiring manga-ka who looks up to Natsuki Takaya, I fell in love with all the characters. Lol. **

**Please review! Love you all!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	14. In The Woods

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**BTSB**

**By Yori Hayashi**

**(There's always somethin' there to remind me) Haha. What I really mean to say, is that I don't own Fruits Basket. …Or that song.**

**A/N: Haha. I was so surprised when I went to check my email, and I saw all of those reviews. Thank you so, so much! I did feel bad about the lecture last chapter, while I was writing it, but you all understand my feelings, right? I am just so glad that you all are enjoying my story! Did more people start to read it after I changed the summary?**

**I have to say, with all the different things going on, it's so difficult to write a summary. I need to write less complex stories. (Haha)**

**Oh, and my cat, Kyoko, had her kittens. There are two orange ones, and one black and white one. :D I was so hoping that there would be a black and white one! I wonder what gender it is. They're too young to tell. But, I think they're beginning to open their eyes. I can't tell, though. Mommy-chan keeps them safely under Mom and dad's bed. It worries me, though. So, I check up on them once in a while. They are doing very well. **

**Ah, well, enough of that rambling. I usually save the ramblings of my daily life for the end. I should have. Oh, well. **

**I would like to thank these reviewers, for reviewing the last chapter: (If you don't care, which you should, Lol, scroll downs pleases.)**

_**Ioritakitochan-san**_** (Haha. Chan-san)**

_**Rena the Pirate Jedi Wizard-san**_** (awesome name, huh, everyone?)**

_**Murasaki-sama-san**_** (Another one of those double titles, huh?)**

_**Ichigo-2007- Baka-chan**_** (She's my best friend. I call her Baka-chan, now! Bwahaha!)**

_**Sohmakid-san**_** (Since I couldn't reply to your review (Sohmakid was anonomous) I would just like to give you a big thanks, and ceremoniously stuff a cookie down your throat!)**

_**Kyouru-Reviewer-san**_** (Kyouru is the best, don't you all agree? Yes, yes!?)**

_**Otaku-Rehab-san**_** (Ah, don't we all need rehab? I knowses I do!)**

_**Kyki- The Late Night Writer**_** (Hmm. She saw that I didn't enjoy Kyou's Father-Baka-sama. …Hmm. That didn't come out right.)**

_**RinHaru4Ever**_** (She (I assume it's a girl. No, not "it". You all know what I mean. Lol.) asked me if Haru would show up. Thank her, because she got me to thinking about it, and Haru will have an appearance. Haha. More romance! Woot!)**

**Woo. Done with that! Thanks again, everyone! Sorry for my improper lecturing last chapter. I'm calm now… But that doesn't license you all to stop reviewing! Haha. Thanks!**

**Onto the story! (cheers!)**

**Chapter Thirteen- In The Woods**

Yuki tapped Haru on the shoulder, and Haru gave a start, turning to look at his friend. "Oh, Hey, Yuki."

"You seem to be out of it. Are you okay?" Yuki gave him a concerned gaze and put his hand on Haru's shoulder to in an effort to comfort him.

"Are you worried about Rin?"

Yuki knew that his question was brainless. Of course Haru was worried about Isuzu! How could he not be? She'd been gone for months, and there were rumors at the main house that Akito was going to scout out the missing group, and hurt them as much as possible. If he could do anything about it, he definitely would, Yuki thought. But the maids were keeping an especially close eye on Hatsuharu. He couldn't get anywhere near Akito.

"Hey, she'll be all right…" The princely boy softly said.

There was a large chance that it would most certainly _not _be okay, but Haru said nothing.

"Hey, I'll be fine…" Haru shook his head and put a hand to his forehead. "I still have you, Yuki." 

Yuki blushed and rolled his eyes. "You really don't need to talk like that when Rin is in so much danger, Haru. You know that if she was gone, you really wouldn't be okay."

Haru looked down, and took a few steps away from Yuki. "Yeah, I know. But, I don't know if you can even imagine how much I really _wouldn't _be okay." He looked back at Yuki before saying, "I'm gonna go home, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Yuki smiled. Haru attempted to smile back, but when he failed in doing so, he just continued to walk away.

"…Good luck with that." Yuki muttered sadly.

--

It was the morning of Christmas Eve.

Outside the cabin, rain poured down creating a soft pattering noise on the roof. The calming sound had no effect on Tohru, however, as she moved the kitchen curtain out of the way so that she could see that Kyou was coming.

He had been outside training since earlier that morning, and still hadn't come back. She was worried that he was getting too tired to walk back, and that he would probably transform soon, if he hadn't already. She couldn't see him, and she sighed, moving the curtain back to its original position. "I hope he's okay out there…" she muttered under her breath.

She looked down at her seat.

Then she looked over at her crutches, as nausea overtook her.

Everyone was asleep. Who would be able to figure out if she snuck out to look for him? What could it hurt, really?

Only her.

"Yes… I need to go look for Kyou-kun…" She touched a crutch, gulped nervously, and pulled them both to her. "Kyou-kun… I just pray that we both come back safely…"

She slowly went towards the door. Half of her mind was telling her not to go. _He's probably all right, _said her conscious. _There's no need to danger yourself. He'll come back soon._

_Don't worry so much, Tohru. _

"No…" She breathed. "I won't risk it. This is too important."

She wrapped a free hand around the door handle cautiously, convincing herself that this was it. She wouldn't come back until she found him. She opened the door, and stepped into the darkness.

Her head was immediately soaked, and it was hard to see in front of her. She could barely see the sun rising in the horizon, but since her hands were full with the crutches, she couldn't very well carry a flashlight with her. Tohru would just have to deal with it, and not complain. Kyou was probably worse off than she was. How could he train when it was so dark outside?

_That doesn't matter_, she thought as she walked forward, as quickly as her crutches would allow her. "Kyou-kun? Kyou-Kun?" She called out for him, but no answer came. Tohru wouldn't have been surprised if he was asleep somewhere. She looked behind shrubs and trees- anywhere that could have kept him hidden.

"Kyou-kun…" She almost cried, even though she knew it was pointless to do so. In reality, she knew that she was worrying too much, but she couldn't keep herself from doing so.

"Kyou-kuuuuuun!" Tohru screamed as loudly as she could. Her voice choked.

Once again, there was no answer. She hung her head and continued to walk.

She reached a small pathway, where a woman and her child were walking leisurely. The mother apparently said something funny, and the child giggled cutely as the mother reached for her son's hand. Tohru cried as she wished that she could have that sort of security with Kyou. At the moment, she wished that they were walking together under an umbrella, holding hands. In her fantasy, there were no crutches, no curse. It was just the two of them, laughing.

She really wished that it was so secure.

The child looked over at Tohru and pointed excitedly. Tohru became startled and blushed as the woman rushed over to her.

"Oh, goodness! Are you okay?" Asked the young woman in a very worried tone. "You shouldn't be out here in the rain! Especially with no umbrella- and on crutches, no less! You could hurt yourself!"

"Yes, I know… Um… I'm just looking for my friend. He went out this morning to do some martial arts, and he hasn't returned… Um…" Tohru looked down at the child because she felt too awkward to look at the mother. The child looked back at her, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Do you need help?" Offered the mother. The child looked back at her for a moment, and then his eyes returned to Tohru.

"N-no thank you." Tohru shivered and smiled at the woman as well as she could. She felt happy, slightly, that the rain was making it harder to tell that she was crying. _Thank goodness for the rain, in a strange way… _"Um… I have to find him on my own, for various reasons. Thank you so much for your offer, though…"

"…Oh, I see." The auburn-haired woman looked at her sadly. "In that case, please be careful…"

"Yes."

The woman nodded, wrapping her fingers around her child's hand once more. They walked away, but as they did so, the woman's heart beat quickly in worry. She looked back at Tohru once more, to double-check on her. Tohru had already turned away, and was walking into the woods. "She's probably going to get hurt…" She muttered so that her son wouldn't hear.

Tohru looked around even more carefully than before, turning her head quickly at every snap of a twig.

Too many squirrels lived in the forest.

Suddenly, she heard a very loud crunch, unlike the ones she heard before. She became very excited again, certain that it would be Kyou that time. "Kyou-kun, is that you?!" She shouted.

She could hear a threatening, low growl, and Tohru backed away quickly, gasping in both excitement and fear.

"What's there?" Tohru asked, even though she knew that she wouldn't get an answer.

Another low growl came. This time, it was from behind her. She gasped again and spun around.

There was a wolf there, growling at her menacingly. Soon, there were three surrounding her. She attempted to find a place that she could back away to, but it seemed almost impossible.

One of them snapped at her injured leg, and she gave a cry of fear. "No, please stay back! Please!"

She raised her arms above her head, as she fell to the ground. Her crutches fell beside her as she remembered what happened with Akito, just weeks before. It all seemed so blurry now, but it couldn't have amounted to her present situation.

This time, she was prepared to die.

--

Kureno had been called to Akito's room. He was apparently in a very large amount of trouble. Either that, or Akito had really gone psychotic. Neither one could be good, so it didn't matter which one it was.

Akito was on her futon, crying while she waited for Kureno to come to her. It had just been reported what Kureno had done with the girl named Arisa Uotani. Didn't he feel any shame for what he had done, at all? Or did Akito not matter to him any more? Akito buried her face into her white kimono and sobbed loudly. How dare he kiss another woman!

Kureno sat down beside her and waited for her to scream at him, as she usually did when he did something terribly wrong. However, he was vain in thinking that Akito didn't know what happened.

"Kureno…" Akito reached out a trembling hand and grabbed his shirt, not looking up.

"Akito, what's wrong?"

"…You very well know what is wrong, Kureno…" Akito snapped, bringing her head up. "A-a maid s-saw you yesterday with some woman… and you were K-kissing her!"

Kureno's gaze widened.

"I'm taking you with me, since I can't trust you anymore, Kureno."

Kureno didn't argue. He didn't even know what Akito meant. "Taking me where? Akito, where are you going?"

"I'm going to the mountains!" Akito shrieked. "I-I'm going to the mountains to kill Tohru Honda! This is all her fault, and I just want her dead!"

--

"I'm going to kill Tohru Honda!" Haru heard Akito yell. He gripped his hands tightly at his side. So, they were in the mountains. That's where Isuzu was…

He grabbed his phone and quickly dialed Arisa's number. Tohru had given it to him, and until now, he never needed it. But now… Well, she deserved to know this important information, didn't she?

Arisa picked up the phone by the second ring, and answered, **"Yo?"**

"Hello, Uotani-san. This is Haru… I have some information about Honda-san that you might like to hear. Tell Hanajima-san, too." Haru told her. Arisa was suddenly very curious, and remained silent, waiting for him to speak.

Unfortunatly, he hadn't overheard about Kureno and Arisa. She would get no warning for that.

--

"Please, stay back!" Tohru screeched as the wolves closed in on her. She began to sob, knowing that there was no possible way that she could escape the bloodthirsty beasts that surrounded her. In her mind, she was certainly going to die. Tohru wondered if they had attacked Kyou, too. She could see the blood already staining their lips.

Her stomach lurched. _Please don't let that be Kyou-kun's blood… Please… Please…_

One wolf, apparently the leader, barked loudly at her, and charged quickly at her. She closed her eyes, and only listened to the sounds surrounding her.

_Leaves were crumpling… the wolves closed in on her._

_She heard a loud thump… Were they fighting?_

_Tohru could hear the loud gnashing of teeth and one of the dogs yelping loudly._

_Huh? _She opened one eye.

There Kyou was, wresting with the three dogs. He was obviously worn out. He was sweating and gasping for air. But he was still defending her.

Tears ran down her face. "K-Kyou-kun!" She was about to stand up and come to help him, but she remembered her leg when pain shot through her body, and she knelt back down to the ground once more.

"Don't come over!" He yelled at her, as if she really could have.

One dog bit down on his arm, and he let out a scream of pain. He couldn't fight the dogs off at that point. The rain was making him too weak. Still, he couldn't give up, could he? Not when Tohru was in so much danger.

He glanced over at his wrist, where his Juzu beads were secure on his arms. Sure, he couldn't beat them as a human, but there was a chance that he could take them in his monster form. He stopped fighting for a moment, and rushed to take the beads off of his wrist. He punched one charging wolf away long enough to take them off and throw them at Tohru.

"Kyou-kun!" Tohru screamed as she caught the beads. "No!"

The smell of rotting flesh filled the air again… He would only do such a thing for her.

**End Chapter Thirteen**

**A/N: I wanted to add more into this chapter, but then I realized that it would be more interesting to leave it at a cliff hanger. Haha. Well, Haru as been brought into it, as was requested. Anyway, as you all are probably guessing, the next chapter will be all about… KYOURU! And it's the moment you've all been waiting for… but not the end! Haha. **

**And if you ever want to find out what happens… You knowses what to do! For those of you who don't know… REVIEW! XD**

**Thank you for reading!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	15. Reaction Test

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**By Yori Hayashi**

**Saying that I don't own the manga like this is like stabbing myself in the heart over and over again. XD**

**A/N: Thanks for those reviews last chapter! I am very happy! The last chapter was one that I have been looking forward to writing for a long while. Of course this one, the continuation, will be even more exciting for me. Oh, and if you read **_**Bewitchment**_**, go to my profile to read the sequel, **_**Possession. **_**The first chapter has been added. **

**I hope you all enjoy! Chapter fourteen already… wow. I've written a lot of chapters… All together, I've written 59 chapters. O.O Duuuude… Not as much as other people, but still good.**

**Chapter Fourteen**

The stench surrounding the area was awful. Tohru covered up her mouth to keep from retching as it filled up her nostrils. However, for the dogs, the smell of rotting flesh only seemed to make the dogs thirstier for him. It was only a bigger target, in their mind. His shirt had been ripped from his transformation, and they were snapping at his bare chest.

He swung one large arm back, and Tohru watched, horrified, as a dog yelped in pain.

Another wolf lunged forward and sunk its teeth into his neck roughly. He screeched again.

She grabbed a crutch and swiped it at one of the dogs head, just barely missing it. She growled and swung again, finally hitting it. The dog became irritated and turned onto her, snapping angrily. She backed away using her arms and the dog went with her. Kyou slapped the wolf before it tackled her, and it fell unconscious.

Two more to go.

Kyou's shoulder began to hurt too much, though, and it was seriously slowing him down. He groaned in pain as another one of the brutes tackled his back, knocking him to the ground. They were both on him now, and while he wrestled with them, Tohru was quickly fumbling with her crutches again.

Her hand was trembling so much that she couldn't pick it up easily, and she wept in fear that she would be too late. Kyou bit down on one of their backs, and it fell to the ground, unable to fight anymore.

One more to go.

Tohru swung again, and Kyou yelled at her, "Stay out of this!"

Kyou was covered in mud and blood, and Tohru just couldn't bear to watch what was happening to him. She craved for someone to come and help them, but at the same time, she didn't want anyone to see him in his monstrous form. No one would want to help, seeing that. Tohru reached out a muddy hand and grabbed the neck of the dog that was fighting with Kyou.

It moved its head wildly, trying to get out of her tight grip, and Tohru wrapped her arm around its stomach to hold it still. Kyou growled at her for getting involved after he had ordered her not to do so. Even though he was annoyed with her, he took the chance and wrapped his claws around the dog's neck. No amount of struggling could save it; Kyou was too strong.

The dog's body became limp, and Tohru sighed, letting go of it. She looked back up at Kyou, trying to thank him, but she was too taken aback by his glaring. Of course, his monster form always looked like that. She almost felt bad that she had gotten into the fight.

However, instead of apologizing, she leaned forward and rested her head onto his bloody shoulder. At this point, she couldn't have cared less how dirty he was.

Kyou was beginning to get very dizzy, and Tohru's weight on his shoulder was making it harder for him to stay up. He lost his balance and fell back onto the ground. She gasped and caught herself so that she wouldn't fall on him and cause him to transform.

He was barely awake, and his breath was raspy. Slowly, he transformed back into a human, and Tohru smiled down at him, relieved that the both of them were still okay.

"Are you alright?" He asked between breaths.

"Don't worry about me." Tohru ordered in a soft voice. "You're the one who just fought three big wolves, Kyou-kun…"

He sighed. "Yeah, whatever."

Kyou sat up, groaning, and Tohru put a hand behind his back for support. "I swear, Tohru… If you ever do that to me again…" he almost laughed, but at the same time, he almost wanted to murder her for putting herself in that sort of danger.

But didn't thinking that way defeat the purpose of saving her?

"Kyou-kun, thank you so much!" Tohru said. Kyou nodded, just looking at her, and she raised an arm to feel his forehead. When she had confirmed that he didn't have a fever, she asked, "Um, if it isn't too dim-witted to ask, is your shoulder feeling alright?"

He didn't answer for a moment. "…I don't know… I was too scared about you."

She blushed, and she reached out to touch his shoulder. He flinched, and she brought her hand back. "Is it too late to say I'm sorry?"

He smiled, kindly but dizzily. "Did you ask to be attacked by a pack of wolves?"

Tohru laughed, shaking her head as tears ran down her face. He touched her cheek to comfort her, and she resisted the urge to throw her arms around his neck. However, he lifted her chin up, looked at her carefully, and leaned in very closely.

"Uh—" Tohru felt a shiver run down her back as Kyou moved in even closer. Was he trying to kiss her again?

Yeah, he was.

Her lips became enveloped in his, and her heart raced a thousand miles a minute. This wasn't what she pictured her first kiss would be like… Muddy, bloody… lost in the woods… She had indeed pictured it to be… cleaner? But then again, what did it really matter? One thing was exactly how she had pictured it would be.

It was with Kyou, the muddy boy she loved.

She closed her eyes and placed her hands on his chest, pushing him to the ground.

"OUCH!" He yelped into her mouth.

"S-sorry!" She apologized.

Great, she ruined it. That was another thing that she hadn't pictured. However, through his pain, he began to laugh. "Haha! You idiot!" He forced himself to sit back up, and did his best to keep from laughing any more, but when Tohru joined in, he began to not care. "Could you be any clumsier?"

"Eh? That was half your fault, too!"

"Really, now?" He teased. "Explain this to me, then."

"You…" Tohru thought up a comeback. "Um… Uh… You… You tricked me with telekinesis!"

"Oh?" Kyou raised an eyebrow at her horrible comeback. "Want me to trick you again?"

"Huh?"

"Tohru, there you are!" someone called out. The two of them gasped, and looked up to see Isuzu and Kazuma standing a few feet away from them, soaking wet. They were almost as muddy as Kyou and Tohru.

Isuzu gasped at all the blood, and the incapacitated wolves. "Wh-what happened here?!" She ran to grab Tohru's crutches, and when a wolf growled in its slumber, she rapidly backed away.

Then, their attention turned back to Kyou. "Uh… Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" They asked in unison.

Tohru giggled, and as he was explaining the situation, Kazuma and Isuzu's eyes became very wide. Kazuma's eyes scanned over the couple, mainly staring at Kyou's new injuries. "Well, now we have our work cut out for us. Two injured teenagers who can't behave," he laughed.

Isuzu rolled her eyes and helped Tohru stand up, as Kazuma assisted Kyou. Isuzu looked at Tohru and said with a suspicious look, "I saw that, Tohru."

Tohru's face heated up as she remembered the kiss again. She wondered if everything would work out after that. Maybe Kyou would be too nervous to kiss her again. Realizing how stupid that thought was, she mentally hit herself. Isuzu looked away and smirked, then looked back at Tohru. "Hey, you know what? When you two were over there making out, I found out some disturbing things about Kazuma," the serious girl said in a low voice.

"Um…" Tohru didn't know what to say.

"First, he was like, 'Lucky him. I wish some girl would kiss me like that.'" Isuzu rolled her eyes and continued, "Then I said, 'Tell me about your stupid personal life, whydoncha!?' I was completely sarcastic, but that idiot started talking about his… bodily functions…"

Tohru tried to suppress her laugh, but it came out in a sputter. She put her hand over her mouth as she started giggling loudly. "I think he was just teasing you, Isuzu-san… Hahahaha!"

"Yeah. It's soooo hilarious." Isuzu snapped. Ahead of them, Kazuma had heard their conversation, and was snickering about it with Kyou, who was shaking his head in exasperation. Kyou looked back at Tohru, who was still laughing.

Then it hit him. What were they supposed to tell the others when they got back to the cabin? Momiji would probably be upset, Hiro wouldn't care, and Kisa would be going crazy. Whatever the outcome, he wanted it to stay a secret. Nevertheless, he would let Tohru do the talking. He didn't want her to think he was ashamed of her. He was just nervous about the reactions.

Like he thought, Kisa immediately started going, "Uwaaaaah!" And Hiro didn't show any sign of caring, of course.

Momiji seemed to be taking it well. He just smiled, and when everyone else had exited the room, he patted Kyou on the back and said, "You win." Kyou blushed at it, but he didn't say anything in return. Momiji was an idiot.

After everything calmed down and everyone else had left the room, Tohru wobbled into the livingroom on her crutches and sat on the couch beside Kyou, who was lying down and was very groggy. "You're worn out, aren't you Kyou-kun?" She reached her hand out and stroked his forehead, brushing hair away from his copper eyes.

He smiled up at her, not speaking, and Tohru leaned down to place a soft peck on his lips.

They were together now, and it could only go uphill from there.

…Couldn't it?

**End Chapter Fourteen**

**A/N: I just realized that this is the second-longest story I've written so far, second to TTFH. However, that fanfiction is a comedy story with short chapters, so I guess it doesn't count. XD Anyway, I've been waiting for this chapter for a long time… Awesomeness. Kyou and Tohru finally got together! Sorry about making Kyou act like he did earlier on- during the kiss scene, but it's justified. He makes fun of her later in the series. Lol. Whatever, though. I lika dat scene. Two muddy people… Kissing… Muddily… Haha. **

**Oh, and please visit me at FictionPress. My story is called Breaking- Hateful Innocence. It's a drama/romance with a bit of comedy, too. It's about this girl… who meets a boy… and they start getting along, but when she asks one question, it turns him against her. After a while, though, she convinces him to be her friend again. But theeeen… they meet a gray-eyed girl who takes them to a run-down world where no one cares about anything, and they have to save her and her brothers from a gang. Along the way, they make friends with another girl named Amahiro, who was raped and is now pregnant. I hope some of you will go and read it. Please do, because it will be greatly appreciated. **

**Please leave the authoress a review! Love you all!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	16. Ninja's in the Trunk

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**By Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Furuba. Quit rubbing it in! We've left the medieval times of torture, people. **

**A/N: Hayashi here! I guess the story will soon be coming to a close (sorry, people). I say this because I have finally decided how to end the story! Yeah, I should have figured it out sooner, but I didn't. Lol. I'm saying this sort of early, but it's going to be hard for me to end this one, because it's been one of my favorites. Ah, I'll wait to make the rest of this speech. The end won't come for maybe two or three more chapters, after all… Though it does make me sad… XD**

**Anyway, thanks for all the very nice reviews! I wish you all could see how happy they make me! :) **

**Chapter Fifteen- Ninja's in the Trunk**

"Kureno-san, are you done with the packing yet?" Asked the impatient head maid with her fists placed firmly on her hips.

"Yeah." Kureno sighed mentally at the annoying woman. She had been on his case all day, and he couldn't seem to catch a break. Ever since he kissed Arisa, everyone was keeping a close watch on him. Akito refused to let him leave the room at night, and was very obsessive over him. She became suspicious if anyone came near him.

He could never be alone.

"Eyaaaah!"

His head shot up at the scream, and he gasped. He could recognize Arisa's yell anywhere. What was she doing back there?

Apparently, the maid heard it too. However, before she could go to investigate, he insisted that she stay there and finish cleaning. "Don't worry about it. I'll go check it out."

"No. You-"

"I said, let. Me. Do. It." He demanded. "I will go."

She narrowed her eyes, but didn't object it any further. Kureno stood slowly from his futon, in an effort to seem as though he was not up to something. The maid watched him with a very wary eye as he left the room.

Obviously, he really was up to something.

--

"Uotani-san, you'll have to be more careful!" Haru whispered. It was a very light outside, and he didn't want anyone to see the other two so-called Ninja's that he was pairing up with for their mission.

Hana climbed very gracefully over the wall that separated the Sohma's from the outside world, and Arisa snarled in annoyance, crossing her arms and pouting her lips.

"Since when are you so good at physical activity, Hana-chan?" The ill-tempered girl complained.

After softly falling behind the large, green bush where Arisa and Haru were hiding, she smiled and glowed with an arrogant pride. "You need to understand at some point, Arisa… I shine at times which will be the most embarrassing for the people around me," she said smoothly, putting a hand on her chest. She fluttered her eyelashes.

"How kind of you," said Haru.

"Of course you do." Arisa shook her head and moved to a crouching position. Then she glared at Haru. "However, this person here didn't have to do anything at all!"

"Not my fault I live here." Haru shrugged.

Hana changed the subject to more important matters by saying, "So they are up in the mountains? And how do you suppose that we get there?"

"Oh." Haru looked up in thought for a moment, and the other two immediately knew that he hadn't actually thought this over. It definitely worried the two of them. Then he said, "Well, they are driving in a very large car."

"We can't go in the car!" Arisa snapped incredulously at the insane suggestion.

"No…" He attempted to keep himself from rolling his eyes or laughing. "I was referring to the trunk. If you would have let me finish…"

Hana and Arisa paused, debating it with each other with only their facial expressions. Riding in the trunk of a car that held crazy people could become dangerous, after all. It could cost their lives, and they wondered if it would really be worth it in the end. They did want to help their friends, and this was the only way that they knew how, but it was too dangerous.

They didn't have time to make a decision. A hand grabbed the back of Arisa's shirt, pulling her back out of the bushes. She screeched in fear, thrashing her arms wildly. Haru was about to come to the rescue, but the person stuffed a hand over Arisa's mouth.

"Arisa, it's me! Kureno!"

She stopped flailing very suddenly, and through his mouth muttered something incoherent. She moved her head slightly to look at him, and said something again. He moved his arms. "What was that?"

"Uh…"

"So, this is Kureno-san?" Hana smirked. "I have to say that I'm disappointed. I expected you to have a few blue ribbons in your hair."

"Eh?" Kureno looked at her strangely. When he noticed her pure-black apparel, he began to wonder if she was dangerous in any way. His fears were completely justified, in his opinion. "What do you mean?"

Arisa sighed, exasperated. "For the last time, I said that he's dopey like Tohru. I never once said he looks like her!" She held her arms out to the side for emphasis, but Hana ignored her.

"More importantly," Kureno said, dropping Hana's creepy subject, "What are you three doing here? Don't you realize how much trouble you could get in for sneaking in? Especially you, Arisa! If Akito finds you here—"

"Akito?" Arisa raised an eyebrow. "Who is Akito?"

"Akito is the head of the family, Uotani-san." Haru explained.

"Oh."

"Well, whatever. We are going, Kureno-san, and there isn't anything that you can do to stop us." Arisa said threateningly. Kureno sighed, realizing that he couldn't get through to her. The only way that he really could stop her was to call security, but of course he couldn't do that to her. He would have to help Arisa, instead.

"Fine." He gave in. "I'll help you, even… But do you really want to ride in the trunk?"

Arisa groaned. Even Kureno thought that it was a horrible idea! What was Haru thinking in that fluffy, white head of his? Obviously, this boy was probably pretty suicidal at some point in his life. Or, that was the impression that Arisa was getting from his logic.

She wondered if they would live through this experience. Nevertheless, she said, "Yes, we would like to ride in your trunk."

"How will you breathe?"

Yet, another problem had arisen. Arisa looked back at Haru, who was now distracted by his Game Boy Advance, and she gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down, and then she returned her attention back to Kureno. "You know, that's a good question. How will we breathe in the trunk of a car? I don't know! Why don't we just give up!?"

"Wait, wait!" Haru said, not taking his eyes off of the Game Boy. "I have an idea!"

Oh, brother.

--

"This is your version of a good idea?" Arisa snapped at him. "You don't think anyone will get suspicious!?"

Hana shrugged her shoulders. She appeared to be satisfied, at least. "I think it's a charming idea, Arisa."

Arisa gave up.

Haru had used power tools to drill small holes onto the lid of the trunk. They were _everywhere._ It was such an expensive looking car, and sure, Akito would be absolutely furious. But he did it with no remorse. In fact, he seemed happier than he had all week. His grin was full of pride at his moronic work, but Arisa couldn't see the genius of it.

Neither could Kureno. "Are we the only sane ones here?" he asked Arisa.

"I'm beginning to think that."

"Well," Haru began, "hop in. Your chariot awaits."

He opened the trunk, and climbed in first. It was a large trunk, relatively, but it would still be hard to fit three teenagers into it. Not to mention, they still had to put the luggage into it.

Arisa and Hana had no time to complain about the amount of space, because they could hear some of the residents coming into the car port. Arisa rushed to climb into the truck, followed by Hana, who seemed to be taking her time. Arisa yanked on her arm, pulling her in. Hana hit her head on the top of the trunk because of it, but Arisa hardly noticed.

"Put your heads down!" Kureno told them in a whisper.

They obeyed his commands, shutting their eyes, and he shut the trunk as softly as he could so that he wouldn't hurt their ears.

"Kureno-san, what are you doing out here?" They heard a voice call out to him.

"Oh, just putting away some heavy luggage." Kureno smiled at the head maid, who returned his look with a suspicious glare. He broke the gaze by walking past her. "Um… I'm going to get Akito's luggage…"

"I have it right here." She seethed, holding up a small, brown suitcase.

He nodded and reached for it. "Of course. Thank you for bringing it to me, Ma'am."

"Mm-hmm." She gave him one last "evil eye" and left the car port. He finally let out a long breath, and opened the trunk.

"Incoming, guys." He set down the suitcase, and the three of them moved it to a spot that would be more comfortable for them. After it was situated, Arisa snapped at him for calling her "heavy luggage". She had obviously taken it as an insult, but he didn't apologize. "Is it really an important matter? You know that I didn't mean it like that."

Hana whispered what sounded like, "Lovers quarrel," to Haru, and he nodded with a straight face. Arisa and Kureno shook their heads at the other two, and the four of them continued with making plans.

Then, Akito Sohma, who was wearing a suit, walked onto the car port. "Kureno, who are you talking to?"

Kureno jumped. Haru, Arisa, and Hanajima all lowered their heads again and he slammed the trunk this time, in fear. He turned back to Akito, who had her head cocked and one eyebrow raised. He smiled, chuckling sheepishly, and rubbed his hands on his thighs. "Oh, Akito-san. It's you. Uh… I was just… putting the luggage into the trunk, and… that's when you came in, I guess."

"And does putting luggage away require talking, Kureno?" Akito retorted.

"Of- of course no-"

"Forget it." Kureno crossed her arms, sighing. Then she dropped them and said, "You know, I've been thinking…"

Then she looked over at the car. Namely, and the trunk. "What happened to the trunk!? The- the car is covered in-"

Kureno's eyes widened. What kind of excuse could he come up with for that? He couldn't think of an excuse, so instead he made a joke. "I suppose you're thinking, 'Holy Trunk!'"

He laughed, but Akito only stared at him, wide-mouthed. He cleared his throat, realizing that what he said wasn't funny at all. "Okay, so it's not funny…"

"I'm glad that you understand, then." Akito put a hand to her forehead, and breathed in deeply. Kureno knew that if one more thing went wrong for her, she would probably blow her fuse. She wouldn't be able to take much more pressure. "L-let's just… go…" She waltzed past Kureno, muttering something about stupid, pranking kids. Then, she spun back around and said, "Are my things packed already?"

"Yes, Akito-san." Kureno nodded.

"Good." She reached for his hand. Arisa, who was peeping through the breathing holes, gasped. Akito stopped. "What was that?"

"No-nothing!" He pushed Akito's back. "Let's just get into the car! We're in a hurry, Akito-san!"

"What-"

After he managed to push Akito into the car, a very large man, who had no luggage, entered the car. He was going to help Akito catch them, and he was their driver. Sitting in the front seat, he pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for Akito to see. It was a silver pistol. He smirked toothily at her, and Kureno looked at it out of the corner of his eye.

"I bought this for your friend, Honda." He said in a deep, gruff voice.

Kureno wondered in the back of his mind if Akito was trying to make this look like a corny movie. But of course, Akito wanted this to be as elaborate and as excruciating as she could. Kureno tried not to think of Tohru actually being shot.

Then he wondered what would happen if Akito saw Arisa.

Akito stared at the pistol for a moment, and then took it from the man. "I want to do it myself. You just take care of the monster, got it?"

The man nodded, pleased.

Akito curved away from Kureno, still staring at the gun. _We're coming for you, Tohru…_

**End Chapter Fifteen**

**A/N: "He's baaa-aaaack!" Lol. Akito sounds like the character out of some horror film. But… I liked this chapter, though I wasn't actually planning on writing it. It just so happened that I had to… So, anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. It will be the last funny chapter, I can tell you that much. There may be one, last funny scene, but after that, it will get very serious. Sorry, peoples. **

**More Kyouru in the next chapter! By the way, I had some trouble with writing for Kureno. Did I do okay? O.O I'm just glad that I got this chapter done before mom forced me off. Haha. **

**Please review! Luv yas!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	17. The Future

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**BTSB**

**Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Furuba. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to go cry, all alone… Sigh…**

**A/N: Ha! I'm back from my crying corner, and I am ready to write! I just uploaded chapter fifteen, but I can't stay away, so here we go! I've figured that there will be about four more chapters, including the Epilogue. So, Yay! Oh, that includes this one, also. So… that makes… nineteen chapters, right? Woot! This'll be my longest story, then! How exciting!**

**Enjoy! O.o**

**Chapter Sixteen- The Future**

Kisa and Isuzu were setting the table for their Christmas breakfast. Finally, that day had come! Tohru had helped prepare the meal, and was now in the livingroom with Kyou, who ever since the fight, had been on bed rest.

But he really needed to go to the bathroom…

"Can I please go?" He pleaded with Tohru, who laughed at him.

She let him go. Why deny her boyfriend his bathroom rights? Besides, his shoulder didn't affect _that, _did it? When he came back and lay on the couch, she rested her head down on his good shoulder and closed her eyes. As she began dozing off, he kept poking her to keep her awake. After a while, she became just slightly frustrated.

"Kyou-kun… I'm sleeping…" She said, burying her face into his chest.

He stopped poking her, at that.

"Don't get too close. I don't want to transform." He told her. She nodded, and dozed off again.

Her sleep only lasted about five minutes, because soon Kisa came into the livingroom to tell them that breakfast was ready. She stopped short at the sight of them, and then giggled. "Should I just let her rest?" She asked them, almost in a teasing way.

Kyou shook his head, and tapped Tohru's shoulder again. This time, when she opened her eyes, she fake-glared at Kyou, and poked him hard in the center of his forehead. She laughed. "I'm still sleeping."

"Not any longer, you aren't."

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" Tohru held securely onto his arm and closed her eyes again. Kyou rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, and then kissed her.

"Okay, then." She blinked. "I'm awake."

Kisa, who didn't know what to say, just left the room. Tohru and Kyou were both amused by this. Kyou handed a crutch to Tohru (one was all she needed to go to the table) and they made their way into the kitchen, where everybody else was already in their seats. Kyou took his rightful seat beside Tohru, and Momiji sat on the other side of the table so that Kyou wouldn't feel jealous.

After the meal, they exchanged presents to each other. Tohru had gotten a blue jacket for Kyou, just like the one that Kagura had previously ripped. He actually thought it was funny that she would buy that for him, and he gave her a small neck hug, with just enough distance.

Then she gave her presents to Momiji, Hiro and Kisa. Momiji and Kisa exclaimed in joy at their gifts. Hiro really liked his, also, but flustered, he only said, "Thanks, I guess…"

Tohru understood it and took no offense.

Kazuma also enjoyed his gifts very much, and he gave Kyou something in a small, orange box that was poorly wrapped. Kyou raised an eyebrow at the wrapping, and proceeded to open the gift. Tohru stared over his shoulder, waiting intently to see what he had received.

Kyou smirked at his gift. "It's a katana ornament!"

"Oh, it's really pretty!" Tohru clapped her hands together, eyes sparkling. Kyou looked at her, embarrassed, and poked her hard in the nose. She rubbed it, and he turned back to Kazuma.

"Thanks, Shishou!"

"You're welcome, Kyou." Kazuma said.

When they finished, Kisa threw all of the wrapping paper away and left the room. Tohru and Kyou parted for the first time since yesterday so that Kyou could talk to Momiji and Kazuma about "random guy stuff."

Isuzu tapped Tohru on the shoulder, waking Tohru up from yet another short slumber.

"Yes, Isuzu-san?" Tohru grinned at her.

Isuzu didn't look at her. What was she doing? No, she should turn around and leave, because Tohru wouldn't want a present from her, anyway. Yeah, that's it. Who's to say that Tohru's not too humble to refuse her gift? She should just say "never mind," and walk away.

Her mouth defied her. "I have a present for you, Tohru," she spat out. Then, realizing that she had just let loose, she slapped a hand over her mouth, and stared blankly ahead.

"You do!?" Tohru grinned widely. "Oh, thank you so much!"

"Yeah, yeah." Isuzu pulled out a necklace, and placed it in Tohru's hand, as Tohru lit up. "Anyway, I hope you like it… I saw it and figured you would, since you seem to like cats so much. It's a pretty rare thing to find."

Tohru studied the charm on the necklace closely. In had a cat painted onto it, beside the word Neko printed on it. _Even better_, Tohru thought, _the cat's_ _orange! It's like it matches Kyou perfectly! _She clutched it to her chest, and Isuzu rolled her eyes, thinking it was corny. Even so, the smaller girl said, "Thank you so much! I love it, Isuzu-san! It means so much that-"

"Just stop it." Isuzu put up a hand. "It was embarrassing enough to give it to you. I don't need the freaky thank-you, too."

Tohru nodded and stayed quiet. But as Isuzu turned around, a large grin that she'd been trying so hard to hold in swept across her lips. She had to try so hard to not laugh out loud in happiness. Why did Tohru have to make her feel like that!?

Kyou saw her, and she quickly frowned again.

--

"What did you want to meet with me on the porch for, Kyou-kun?" Tohru enlaced her fingers around his.

They were sitting on the porch swing on the back patio. The sun was going down on their long day, and Kyou took the opportunity to talk to Tohru alone while everyone else was exhausted.

He leaned his head onto hers and whispered, "Do you really think that this is going to work out, Tohru?"

She became sad, all of the sudden. Tohru desperately wished that he wasn't planning on ending it so soon. "Kyou-Kun, you're not saying we shouldn't be together, are you?" She stared up at him more intensely that she meant to, but it had a good enough effect.

He shook his head, and began using his foot to rock the swing. He needed something to calm his nerves about the entire situation. "That isn't it, Tohru… It's just… Well, you know that I love you. I just don't know, though. I mean, you can't ever have everything you want with me, and that really worries me, Tohru.

"Think about it," he continued, trying to ignore her eyes, which were tearing up. She wasn't making this easy for him. "I'll never be able to hold you or anything like that. Are you really okay with that?"

She let go of him, and sat back, looking to the ground. "Well, that does actually make me feel sad, Kyou-kun… But still. I don't want to lose someone I love this much just because of one flaw. Kyou-kun, I have my flaws, too! And it wouldn't be fair to leave you behind because of something that is out of your control!"

"We just got together yesterday! Please don't end it!" she cried.

He stared at her sadly. "You're right." She looked back at him, and he rubbed his temple with his right hand. "Sorry," he said. "I just want to be able to do that sort of thing for you, and I want you to be happy like that."

"But I'm happy like _this._" She told him in a determined voice.

"Fine." He laughed. "Sorry I said anything."

Relieved, she nodded and lay back down on his shoulder. "Kyou-kun?"

"Hm?"

"What's your very favorite thing to eat?"

Confused, he didn't answer at first. Why would she ask him something like that? It wasn't as if she could work well around the kitchen yet, or anything. She was probably just curious, but it still made him wonder.

"Um… codfish." He said slowly and cautiously. "Why?"

"When I get better, I'm going to make you a big meal of codfish," she told him, smiling.

He shook his head, chuckling. "That's pretty distant into the future, Tohru, but thanks." He kissed her forehead, and turned his attention to the lake. "Is this what you meant when you said lakes are romantic?"

"Oh. You still remember that?" She blushed at the embarrassing memory. She couldn't believe she'd said that, and now Kyou know that she was talking about him! How stupid was she? "You don't thing that's stupid, do you? I mean, it is really pretty at this time of night. I think it is, at least."

"It is…"

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes. They were both thinking about the future. More importantly, _their _future.Would it all work out in the end? Well, seeing as they would already be stuck together from running away from the main house, the chances were pretty likely that they didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Still, the future birthdays, Christmases, New Years… Would they spend them happily together, or apart?

Tohru didn't want to think about it, even though she knew that resistance was pointless. She pulled on Kyou's collar and kissed him softly on the lips.

That certainly helped erase her thoughts.

The kiss lasted for a while, but it felt like it was only three seconds when they saw the bright lights of a car. Tohru pulled away from Kyou, though her hands were still on his chest.

The first thought that crossed their minds: _They've found us. _

**End Chapter Sixteen**

**A/N: (evil laugh) They've been caught making out! Worse, though, Akito has found them!**

**I feel bad, though, that it is so short. Gomen, Gomen! Well, I hope that it was enjoyable, nonetheless. I thought that it would be good for everyone if I had more Kyouru fluff. Everyone likes Kyouru fluff, right? Haha. I planned on having a funny scene in here with Uo, Hana and Haru in the trunk, but it didn't really happen… Maybe I'll write a mini story called "In the Trunk". Lol. Maybe, maybe not. **

**Anyway, thank you for reading, and review, please!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	18. Battle at Sunset

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**By Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Fruits Basket, and have no more to add to the disclaimer at this time. Oh, poo.**

**A/N: It's hard to believe that we've already reached chapter Seventeen, and the second-to-last chapter of the story, besides the Epilogue. Awesomeness! Well, from here on, it will all become completely serious. I made a mistake from saying that the last chapter wouldn't have comedy. It had a little, anyway. I was expecting it to go differently, but whatever. I can promise a serious chapter this time, though, because I've already got it written down. Haha!**

**It may be short, may not. We'll have to see after I type it up. When I write it on paper, it looks longer than it really is… That's why I hate paper.**

**Enjoy!**

**Seventeen- Battle at Sunset**

"Tohru." Kyou put his hands on Tohru's shoulders tightly, and Tohru could feel them trembling unbearably. "Tohru, that's the car that they took me in a few months ago." He stood up quickly and forced Tohru's crutches into her hands. "Go inside right now!" He ordered.

"Wh—"

"I said go!" He pushed her to move the confused girl faster.

"Once inside, Kyou yelled at everyone, "Get out of the house! Akito found us! She's outside!"

"But how did they…" Kisa began rummaging to pick up a few of her belongings as she spoke. Hiro lifted up some of her things, also. "How on earth did they find us, Nii-san!?"

"How should I know!?" Kyou roared. She recoiled, but knew that he was only doing it because he was terrified. "I could honestly care less how they did it! Just hurry up!"

"Move faster, everyone." Kazuma ordered as calmly as he could force himself to. "I'll lock the back door, and if they still make it in, I'll try to fight them off, okay? And Kyou, you're going with them. I want you all to run as fast as you can!" Kazuma pointed at the front door and pushed the adolescents past him one-by-one. "Don't you dare stop running!"

Isuzu lifted Tohru onto her back, though she knew it would slow her down. Tohru and Kyou were the ones that they were after, and it was at least better than Tohru trying to run on crutches.

As soon as Kisa went out the doorway, Akito saw her and shot at her head. Kisa drew back, falling into Hiro as the bullet zoomed loudly past her head and crashed through a window. The glass shattered and cut her face. "Ow!"

"Ignore it and keep running!" Kyou pushed her forward. There would be time for bandages later.

After they got past the barrage of bullets, they sprinted into the forest, followed by the angry Akito.

Kureno watched Akito leave nervously, and when she was out of sight, he went to the trunk and quickly opened it. "Hurry, you three!" He told them. "Akito is already after them. They went into the forest!"

"Aaa!" Arisa stretched both of her long legs like a cat, and yawned. Being scrunched up for so long had really tightened her muscles. Luckily for Haru and Hana, they didn't need to stretch (which seriously confused Arisa), and Haru was the first to run after the others. When Arisa was properly stretched, she sprinted after him.

Hana frowned at Kureno. "I would only run like this for Tohru."

"Yeah. Sure."

_With Kazuma…_

The large man had broken into the cabin, and Kazuma was hiding behind the couch, waiting patiently to jump out and assault. As the man searched around the quiet room, all that could be heard was his rummaging. The man then began towards the couch, and Kazuma crouched down more. The man poked his head over the back of the seat.

Kazuma shot up and threw the man to the ground.

"Aah!" The man stumbled back and hit the back of his neck on a wooden foot rest. Kazuma shook his head in disgust.

'_Well, that was pathetic.' _He thought.

In the forest…

Akito fired at Tohru, who was still on Isuzu's back. The bullet almost hit Tohru's ear, and she fell back, shrieking. "Ow!" Tohru cried in pain as her leg hit the firm forest earth.

"Akito!" Isuzu leaned down to Tohru. "You'd better—"

Akito raised an eyebrow, and then the gun. Putting a finger on the trigger, she pointed it at Tohru again and said, "Just think for a moment, Isuzu. I'm the one with the dangerous weapon, here. Do you really want to smart off to me? Really." She put some pressure on the trigger. "Just think about what you want to say, very, very carefully."

Isuzu kept her mouth shut, along with everybody else, but she moved to be in front of Tohru.

Akito laughed scornfully at her. "Yeah, sure. That'll keep me from shooting her.

Isuzu and Tohru braced themselves for a shot. Kyou wasn't sure whether or not he should block them- in the long run, it wouldn't do any good. They all closed their eyes. No one could run to Akito before she pulled the trigger.

They heard a click.

"Get off of me!"

"Er… Eh?" Tohru opened one eye. Then the rest of them opened theirs.

Akito was waving her arms wildly, at what seemed to be absolutely nothing. Momiji began snickering and Kyou flicked him in the head. "This isn't the time to laugh, you idiot." Akito's yells only became louder and more distressed as time moved on, and everyone was sure that she was crazy. She almost dropped the gun throughout her thrashing, and Kyou was prepared to seize it at any moment.

"Rin!" Haru called out.

Isuzu pursed her lips together in confusion, and began looking around wildly. "Haru!?" She saw him come from behind a tree, and with wide eyes, she ran to him. "What the—"

"Don't ask any questions. The answer is completely moronic." Arisa and Hana also came into sight, and Tohru smiled in relief. As long as the two of them were there, she felt quite safe. However, Kyou became possessive and grabbed Tohru's arm. Tohru noticed this and tried hard not to laugh. But now was not the time for something like that.

"Uo-chan, what are you three doing here!?"

"Haru-nii—" Hiro started.

Before there was time for any explanation, Akito came away from her state of insanity. Nobody had seen.

Akito took this perfect chance to take another shot—

--at Arisa.

A bone-shattering pain exploded through the girl's entire body and she fell to the soil, holding her bloody stomach tightly. "Ah- Aaaah…" she moaned and choked in pain, and Hana rushed to her as she fell onto her side.

Everyone else stared in terror. Tohru slapped her hands over her mouth, crying, as Kyou screamed, "Why did you just shoot her!?"

Akito, glaring at Arisa, spat, "That's the girl who kissed Kureno. My maid gave me the description." She sneered. "I remember her words very well. 'An ugly, bleach-blonde Yankee girl.'" She reminisced.

Arisa gritted her teeth. Until that very moment, she had no idea that anyone had squealed on her. "I'll kill that… wo… Ugggh!" She screamed in pain again.

Silence.

"Arisa?" Hana shook her shoulder.

"A-Arisa!" Tohru cried. Kyou held on tighter to the sobbing girl as she tried to run to her friend.

"Tohru, please." Kyou whispered. "She's going to be okay. Calm down." He tried to soothe her, but he was worried, himself. In all reality, he didn't think that she would make it. But he couldn't tell Tohru that. Either way, she wasn't calming down at all. The tighter he held her arm, the more she struggled and wailed. Finally, he did let her go, but she was too distraught to make it far enough.

She just fell to the ground and sobbed into the dirt.

He couldn't be more enraged at Akito.

Kyou tackled Akito, almost making her fall down, and he pulled her arm so hard that he almost dislocated it. She yelped in pain and he threw the gun into the bushes. Then he twisted her arm back.

"I hate you, Akito!" He yelled in her ear, making her squirm. "We've all been stupid, listening to every idiotic thing you tell us, but I'm sick of watching you hurt all the people I care about! We've been nice to you long enough!"

"Don't you dare touch me, monster!" Akito tore her arm away.

He caught her again- this time, by seizing her small, emaciated neck. "Call me that one more time and I'll rip you to shreds!"

Akito's face began to turn red, but she was actually smiling! Kyou raised one eyebrow, and jerked his arm to make her hurt more. "What's your problem, Akito!?"

She reached up, slowly, and put her hand on his wrist that wore the Juzu beads. She fingered the red and white beads watchfully, but rapidly, before Kyou was able to catch on.

Smirking at Tohru, she rasped, "Say goodbye to Kyou-kun!"

**End Chapter Seventeen!**

**A/N: Sorry that was so short, you guys. Keep in mind, though, the next chapter'll probably be shorterer. Lol. Have you all figured out what I'm doing yet? Well, as shocked as you may be at me for writing that, just wait until you read the next chapter! **

**I know what you all are thinking! How could I kill Arisa!? Haha. Just wait, and keep reading, folks. Trust me, it'll get worse. (And that's a good thing!?) Just don't stop reading. You may actually get some relief from reading on. Then again, you may not. But why leave off here. (And you all say: So we won't be scarred for life!)**

**Oh, yeah. Sorry…**

**I remember a request to do Shigure and Akito, but it doesn't look like that will happen. It doesn't look like Akito will be anything more than the Static Character for this, either. I don't think of Akito as a "bad person", though. I just wanted to clear that up. She's awesome, and really cool at the end! I feel bad for turning her into such an evil character. I still loves you Akito-san!!**

**One more chapter, plus the epilogue! Whatever will we do? Anyway, please read and review, and I will do my job to update it ASAP!**

**-Yori Hayashi**


	19. Goodbye Kyou?

**BTSB**

**Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Furuba.**

**A/N: You all hate me for the last chapter, don't you? But do not fret. There will be at least one death, I will tell you that. Muahahahahaha… Oh, but it isn't Kyou. …I wouldn't EVER do that. O.O **

**Don't hate me! Hate Akito! Bwahaha! O.O (crazy authoress on the loose!) Oh, but the kittens are doing very well! We have finally named them! The black and white one is name Haruhi, after her father. The orange one with white paws is Squishy! (I was just saying, "he's my squishy!" but somehow, it stuck…) and the plain orange one is… Pfft. Morris. Mom named that one… I don't hate the name, but it just seems strange for him. …Whatever… One time we had a calico and she named it Lady Arwin. Mom likes those sort of names, however, Morris may be a revenge for all the Japanese names. XD**

**Enjoy the (coughshortcough) chapter!**

**Chapter Eighteen- Goodbye Kyou-kun?**

Akito wrapped her fingers around the Juzu beads and pulled, hard. Tohru and the other Zodiac members watched in shock as their friend's beads flew in different directions. Kyou released Akito.

One bead landed in front of Tohru, who was still lying on the ground. She looked at it for a moment, still trying to figure out what had just happened, but when she smelled rotting flesh, she figured it out.

Kyou was permanently a monster.

"Kyou-kuuuun!" Tohru shot up and limped quickly to Kyou, who was on the ground, writhing during his transformation. Arisa was still unconscious, but Hana was aghast at the sight. "Kyou-kun, no—"

She wrapped her arms around his neck, vainly hoping that it would stop his transformation. Her efforts obviously failed, and his monstrous form came out. She wouldn't let go, however, but she almost fell unconscious at the awful smell. Momiji, Hiro and Kisa, who had never seen his form up close before, began to gag. Haru and Isuzu covered their mouths. Hana wasn't even breathing.

"Revolting- isn't it, everyone?" Akito smiled.

"Kyou-niichan!" Kisa covered her mouth with her hands. "Wh-what is that thing!?"

"That's Kyou's true form, you stupid girl." Akito snapped at her. "Can you believe that monstrosity actually had the balls to touch his god like that!?" Laughing, she kicked Kyou in the stomach.

"Stop it!" Tohru cried. "Leave him alone!"

"Shut up, whore!" Akito back-handed her across the cheek, and Tohru yelped in fear.

"Back off, Akito!" Haru and Isuzu screamed at Akito in unison. Akito didn't back off, however. She ran to grab her gun again.

That's when Tohru fought back. Crying, she kissed the side of Kyou's face and stood up to face Akito. Akito raised an eyebrow at her and said in a mocking tone, "Does the sweet little Tohru-chan want to fight with me? Do you want a bullet through your stomach, too?"

Tohru shook her head.

"Well, then, what do you want?" Akito, who had leaned down to grab the pistol, forgot about it and straightened herself. She put one hand on her hip and frowned at Tohru, who remained expressionless. "I asked- what do you want?! Answer me, you monster!" She strutted over to Tohru and grabbed her by the collar. "Are you picking a fight?"

Tohru shook her head again, but finally spoke, "Leave Kyou-kun and everyone else alone, Akito-san. I don't care if you kill me, but just leave the ones I love _alone._" She spoke in a stern but shaking voice, and Akito wasn't about to take her seriously at all. Tohru's leg was in so much pain at the moment, but she couldn't back down. She'd just given an order to Akito.

A fight was definitely about to start, and Tohru wasn't going to be at the losing end.

"I'll deal with you later, Honda." Akito released Tohru's collar, and Tohru almost fell down. Akito turned back to Kyou. "Well, are you ready to go back to confinement or do I have to break Tohru's other legs? Really, I don't mind either way."

The "monster" cried softly, and it jerked Tohru's heart again. Tohru stumbled forward, and fell into Akito's back. Akito spun around and tried to slap Tohru, but Tohru grasped her arm tightly.

Tohru fell forward even more, and Hana called out for her to stop. But Tohru was falling unconscious. Her sight was going completely black, but she could hear everyone screaming, "You're heading to the cliff, Tohru! Stop!"

Tohru couldn't stop. Akito stumbled backwards.

The fall was long.

**End Chapter Eighteen**

**A/N: See. I told you it would be short. It probably would have been better to combine it with the last chapter. Then again, longer isn't necessarily better. I thought it would be best to leave it at a cliffhanger, and being short was the only way I could do that. But, hey. At least I'm updating it twice in the same night. That counts for something. Haha. **

**I know what it seems like, people. But really, read the epilogue, okay!? I planned out the end very, very, carefully, and it would be a shame if no one trusted me about it. :( **

**I won't update again tonight because I want the wait to be excruciating. Lol. I hope that you all enjoyed the final chapter, and stay tuned!**

**Review, please!**

**-Yori Hayashi**

**A preview of the Epilogue: **_Kyou Sohma placed the pink flowers onto the grave. _

**Bwahaha. **


	20. Epilogue One Final Goodbye

BTSB

**BTSB**

**Yori Hayashi**

**I don't own Fruits Basket**

**A/N: Everyone, I would like to apologize, because some of you seem to be annoyed with me for hurting the characters. However, as life goes, people get hurt, and people die. I like to depict that in my stories. Not only for drama, but for truth. FYI, life doesn't always have happy endings. I strongly believe in depicting life as it could really be. (Despite the unlikely storylines… XD)**

**However, that doesn't totally go for my story, because I went for a very bittersweet ending. Don't give up on me, yet, as some of you probably already have. I told you all, there would be a surprise ending, and you are about to get it! **

**I thank everyone who has stuck by me during this story, and I hope you all aren't too mad at me about the last chapter. And if you are, you'll have to get over it, because that is how I write, and that's how life is. Despite that, though, I try to be optimistic. Haha. Onto the actual subject, though, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all of your comments, and I think my writing has grown through this story more than any other. **

**Please enjoy the epilogue, and the final installment to this story! **

**Epilogue- One Final Goodbye**

_Four years later…_

_The cemetery was absolutely quiet. The wind was the only sound you could hear as it blew through the large oak trees. A man with orange hair, with his child and wife, entered the cemetery holding hands. The man squeezed his wife's hand, and nodded at her for reassurance. The small girl pulled some pink flowers out of the ground, and held them up for her father. _

_He laughed and accepted them._

"_Kyou," said his wife, "where exactly is the grave?"_

_He clutched her hand again, this time tighter. "It's by the large oak tree. Are you sure—"_

"_I want to go," she cut him off._

_He nodded, and led the way to the grave. Crouching down, Kyou layed the small, pink flowers onto the grave. _

_His wife covered her face as small tears fell onto her pink dress. "I feel bad, not being there for the funeral… It was the least I could do, after all that happened, Kyou…"_

"_It wasn't in your control," he told her, not looking back at her. _

"_Daddy," the little, brown-haired girl touched his shoulder and he turned his head to look at her. "Daddy, that woman, did you love her?"_

_He smiled at her, sadly. "Kyoko, that's a complicated story." He ruffled her hair, and stood to face his crying wife. "Calm down. I keep telling you that it wasn't your fault. Some good came out of this situation. At least Arisa didn't die, and now the curse is broken…"_

"_But… Akito-san—"_

"_She's gone, but you're still here, Tohru." He kissed her forehead, and the little girl giggled. The married couple ignored her giggling. "Tohru, just be glad that fall didn't kill you, like it did her."_

"…_Right…" She said. _

_They kissed again. Their god was gone, but he was free, and they would be living a melancholy "happily ever after". _

**The End**

**A/N: Surprised? Well, that's the end of that. I feel so empty inside, now… It's like… my child grew up and went to college… WAAAAAHHHHH!**

**(A hyper rabbit thingy flies in and whacks me in the head with a random object)**

**HR: Get a grip! You're only fourteen! You don't even **_**have **_**kids!**

**Me: (lying on the ground) You!? When did you get here!? Where have you been this entire story!?**

**HR: Oh… That's a funny story… (Thinks of girls on the beach)**

**Me: Uh… what are you thinking? Anyway… I really do appreciate all of you who've stuck with me to the end! I know the ending seemed cliché, but I added the melancholy just because. You all wanted your happy ending, so I gave you your… sort of happy ending. Haha. **

**HR: (reads through entire story, then has a sweatdrop) Yori-chan, you like writing kiss scenes, don't you?**

**Me: …(evil grin)**

**Enough of that skit, though. I hope that enough of you trusted me enough to read it all the way to the end! Some probably didn't, but that's okay! I hope that you all enjoyed. Wow… That's another fanfic off my back… Sniff…**

**Domo Arigoto Gozaimasu! I hope you all love your lives, and thank you, once again! **

**Goodbye, and check out my other stories! **

**Your loving authoress,**

**Yori Hayashi**


	21. Note To readers

Authors Note!

To all readers:

I have officially began the comic for Behind These Steel Bars. It is going to be posted at smackjeeves. I would greatly appreciate support. My username is Yori Hayashi Chan, and if you need any more information, please email me or P.M. me. Thank you so much, and please support the comic as much as you did the fanfiction!

By the way, I will be posting another version of the epilogue at some point, and I will re-write this story. But don't worry; it's just for editing purposes. I'm just replacing the chapters, not taking the entire thing down. Haha. Not just yet, though. I have other fanfictions to do.

Thank you all so much!

-Roselin


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